Planning to become a parent is a profound experience, at times agonizing, hopeful, stressful, and joyous. Not everyone is able to become pregnant, however. When the journey to parenthood proves challenging, Planning Parenthood will guide prospective parents through the complicated mazes of assisted reproduction and adoption.

Specialist authors first describe fertility assistance, surrogacy, and adoption, clearly outlining the requirements of each strategy. They compare the medical, emotional, financial, and legal investments and risks involved with each of these options. Then they introduce the issues that people will need to consider when deciding which path to parenthood is best for them. Along the way these experts offer encouragement for changing course under any number of circumstances.

Supporting the detailed information in this book are personal stories of the often long, winding, and emotional road to parenthood—from in vitro fertilization to egg donation to surrogacy to adoption.

Armed with professional knowledge and inspired by the experiences of others who have gone before them, prospective parents will be informed and reassured by this unique resource.

Rebecca A. Clark, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and coauthor, with Dr. Hayes, of A Woman's Guide to Living with HIV Infection, also published by Johns Hopkins. Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., FACOG, is chair and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College, associate director of the Center for Women’s Health Research, and a board certified reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist. Jill Hayes, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice and an adjunct associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Michelle Murphy, J.D., is in private practice. Katherine Pucheu Theall, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center’s School of Public Health.