Avalanche A Love Story [Hardcover]

In this brave and lucid account, Julia Leigh broaches a challenging life event often left undiscussed: how the struggle to have a child can take an agonizing toll. Leighs experience at the vanguard of medical science is acutely rendered, physically and emotionally, transmitting what it feels like to so desperately wish for a child while knowing that the odds are stacked against you. From the daily shots she puts herself through at home, to hopes raised and dashed, and finally to the decision to stop treatment,It is one of the first intelligent, personal accounts of the daily business of IVF, and as such will surely be a useful (albeit rather demoralising) resource for other women. She describes the grueling rounds of injections, blood tests and scans, and the bloating and physical depletion that result. However, its a book that rightly has wider ambitions, because these insistent, lengthy attempts to become pregnant raise more elemental questions about what it means to desire a child.With searing intelligence and unflinching emotional clarity, Julia Leigh lays bare the exacting nature of desire.An astonishing and unfliching personal account of an IVF journey--fiece, touching and redemptive.Julia Leigh writes beautifully and honestly and has a rare gift for bringing the reading along as if a trusted friend. Her stories of love and loss, friendship and sorrow makeLeigh's a star and this account of IVF has all her brilliant luminosity.Deeply personal, insightful and rawJulia Leigh's story of her desire for a baby is beautifully told. I didn't want to put this brave book down for a second.An intensely personal narrativeof loss, hope, and longing for a child.