As someone currently undergoing the initial stages of fertility treatment, I found the scientific information very helpful in understanding more about the delicate reproductive process (and how today's medicine can assist). I also found myself responding very emotionally to the plight of these couples. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to shed a tear at some of these beautiful, yet painful, stories! Nearly all of the stories have happy endings, though, and while that certainly does make for a less depressing book, it probably represents an unrealistic cross-section of infertility patients. Not everyone can be helped (sadly, I have several dear friends who fall into this category) and I imagine relatively few couples have the resources to pursue the kind of cutting-edge treatment Dr. Zouves describes - flying to the West Coast constantly, staying in hotels, paying for surrogates, not to mention the cost of the treatment itself (rarely covered by insurance). On the other hand, the book may well provide the necessary hope for those who are just barely hanging on in the midst of the physically and emotionally grueling treatment.
By the time a couple walks through the door at Pacific Fertility Center and meets Dr. Christo Zouves, they have probably been through the fertility medicine mill; they've consulted with other fertility specialists and been told they just can't have children. With his unique combination of hope, compassion, and cutting-edge technology, Dr. Zouves changes that for many of his patients. Twelve weeks later, after rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), testicular extraction of sperm (TESE), ovum donation cycles with known and anonymous donors and gestational surrogacy, he sends couples back to their ob/gyn, often expecting one or more children.
Expecting Miracles provides a moving, in-depth look at the options, the decisions, the unexpected twists, turns, and disappointments that these couples experience as they work with Dr. Zouves. As he shares his own story and those of the patients, egg donors, and surrogates he has known, Dr. Zouves gives readers a rare view of the human side of reproductive medicine and all that goes into helping infertile couples realize their dreams of parenthood.