This post is intended to be a review of Dr. Dorette Noorhasan’s book Miracle Baby: A Fertility Doctor’s Fight for Motherhood.
I was given a free copy of the book for review but was not otherwise compensated. This post also contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase through a link I may earn a commission, at no cost to you. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.
Miracle Baby: A Fertility Doctor’s Fight for Motherhood
I was so excited when I received the request to review Dr. Dorette Noorhasan’s memoir outlining her personal fight against infertility.
I think one of the hardest trials a prospective mother might face is infertility. Growing up, one of my biggest fears was that I wouldn’t be able to have children. Then I couldn’t believe how quickly I got pregnant once we started trying. The reality of my pregnancy brought on its own anxiety. I hadn’t expected it to happen so easily. I began to doubt whether I was really ready for motherhood. Yet somehow God had trusted me with this baby and it was too late to change my mind. I knew that I was lucky. That a high percentage of women struggle with infertility and that I should see my pregnancy as a miracle. And I did. I was eager and anxious at the same time. I felt grateful to God, yet terrified. I felt like I should just be grateful that everything had been “easy” when so many women struggle for years to get pregnant.
Maybe this is true because this embarkment on the journey of motherhood was “easy”. But is motherhood ever easy? The beautiful struggle of motherhood is an individual one. Each woman has her own miraculous path to motherhood, each paving her own beautiful experience.
Yes, I got pregnant quickly and my pregnancy was healthy. But motherhood has still been an uphill climb. The higher I climb, the more I realize the complete sacrifice required of motherhood. The more I respect my own mother for raising 6 children and for the other sweet babies she nurtured in pregnancy but lost. I am awestruck when I realize the beautiful inherent desire to love and nurture that so many mothers and fathers share. Motherhood truly is a miracle.
There are some things I loved about Dr. Noorhasan’s story.
She is so candid in relating the details of her life, including her immigration to the U.S. as a child, health complications that left her unable to bear her own child, and her journey to finally becoming a mother. She did not hold back in sharing the difficult details of her life. She did not pretend to look through rose colored glasses. By the end of her story I felt an emotional tie, being brought to tears several times as she described the conception and birth of her sweet baby boy.
Dr. Noorhasan reminded me that life is a miracle. Regardless of the process, the possibility of conception is remarkable. I came away from this book with a renewed feeling of wonder at the miracle of life.
God had put me through so many tests, and I had shed so many tears. Yet at that Thanksgiving meal, I realized that God had answered all my prayers. It had taken him a long time to answer them; sometimes, I had not been sure whether he even heard them. But I was truly blessed!
Dorette Noorhasan, M.D., Miracle Baby: A Fertility Doctor’s Fight for Motherhood
This story is one of such perseverance and determination to be a mother. It reminded me of the sweet miracle of motherhood. Something I can’t take for granted.
Dr. Noorhasan is unable bear her own child. Determined to be a mother, she finds a sperm donor and surrogate mother, only to see that fail. She endures numerous failed attempts at IVF and transfer to a surrogate mother. Thinking that raising their own child may be impossible, she and her husband finally succeed and their sweet baby boy is born through a remarkably selfless surrogate mother.
The message I received from this book?
There is hope for women longing to become mothers. The means you must employ to become a mother are legitimate. Regardless of how your baby is brought to you, your motherhood is a miracle. God has sent you a tender child to nurture and love.
To the woman who, for whatever reason, is unable or chooses not to be a mother:
I see you mothering and nurturing every day. I see a mother in your devoted service and your influence in the workplace. In your interactions with young family members or the children you teach. In your compassion for friends and loved ones. In your efforts to make the world a better, loving place.
Motherhood is a miracle that all can participate in, regardless of the cards they’ve been dealt. It may be entirely different from the other mothers you know, but your motherhood is a unique and beautiful collage constructed by YOU and your own experiences.
To the mother who doesn’t feel like a miracle:
You are loved. You are doing enough. You are on the most beautiful road of sacrifice ever paved.
Having a baby has been many years in the making. I had many days of excitement and many more days of pain. We are now parents. Our route to becoming parents was not conventional, nor anything close to conventional… The journey might not be easy, and there might be detours along the way. But parenthood is a real possibility!
Dorette Noorhasan, M.D., Miracle Baby: A Fertility Doctor’s Fight for Motherhood
