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3.24 of 5 stars
Carey, Beth, and Pam had succeeded at work but failed at romance, and each resolved to have a baby before time ran out. Just one problem: no men. C... read full description

reviews

Nov 04, 2010
Gaby rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Our generation of women have had more opportunities than our mothers. Women have spent more time in school and establishing our careers and waited longer to be married or start families. By the time many of us felt ready for that next stage, we faced a quickly shrinking window of time. In Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood, three successful women journalists Carey Goldberg, Beth Jones, and Pamela Ferdinand tel More...
Sep 14, 2010
Ciara rated it: 2 of 5 stars
this book is really weird. it follows the stories of three friends, all of whom have been unlucky in love, shall we say, & are desperate to have babies while they still can. carey goes first. she just hasn't found a guy that she wants to settle down with, so she decides to pursue single motherhood with the help of a carefully selected anonymous sperm donor. the same day her eight vials of sperm arrive, she meets an intriguing man on an internet dating sight. she postpones the insemination while More...
3 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jul 14, 2010
Faith rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I finished Three Wishes. It is exactly the style of book I enjoy reading, an autobiography of a short period of a woman's life. However as I come to the end of it I'm really dissatisfied. The woman's stories have only slight variations and they all write in practically the same style. They all set out to become single mothers at around age 40.
However this is not a story about single motherhood. Through the ups and downs of making a baby with, at times, almost complete strangers. Through d More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
May 08, 2010
Kelley rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This book held my attention, but I found it hard to relate to these women. I live in a bubble, I suppose, of people who share my views of life and family. No matter what else the authors had to say, I can't seem to get past the pro-choice message. After aborting their first baby due to a down's diagnosis (absolutely heart breaking to read about--I was SO angry), and upon testing during a second pregnancy, one of the authors said, "We didn't want to know the gender, same as with the first More...
Jun 17, 2010
Carla Jean rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Had I heard about it any other way, I would've been skeptical of this book's premise. Three women decide, individually, that they're prepared to become mothers on their own. The first orders eight vials of sperm from a sperm bank, and quickly falls in love and gets pregnant the old-fashioned way. As they pass the vials between them, the other two women do the same. Unlikely? Perhaps. True story? Yep.

I heard an interview with the authors on their publisher's podcast, and quickly went ho More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Aug 25, 2010
Tori rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I wouldn't have chosen to read this book, but was pleasantly surprised. This is the true story of three single women in their late thirties, who have individually decided that they want to have a child - with or without a husband. They are all professionals in journalism, I believe, and one of them buys vials of sperm from Donor 8282. Each of the women writes a chapter, so the reader goes back and forth between three kind of interconnecting stories. (that part was kind of confusing for More...
Jul 05, 2011
Christine rated it: 3 of 5 stars
*** 3.5 out of 5 stars***

The title and subtitle of this book explains largely what this book is about, but to elaborate just a bit, it is a memoir co written by three friends who have found themselves at the same cross road of life and how they proceed to make at least one of their wishes come true---to be a mother and everything else that happens to them during their journey to motherhood. Carey, Beth and Pam are all successful journalists, each with a string of failed relationship More...
Jan 27, 2011
Clara rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. I was initially worried i would not be able to relate to these three women and the way life has led them to decide to be single mothers by choice. However, I found the book to be mostly about the universal fears, concerns and sometimes tragedies that go hand in hand with the decision to become a parent. I also deeply enjoyed to read about the way all three women seemed to find more balance, peace, and happiness through their decisions to become mothers. I am usually n More...
Jun 18, 2010
Laura rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
Apr 24, 2010
Bridget rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Finding and keeping love isn't quite as easy as it looks. This is true for Carey, Beth and Pam want to get pregnant but they are missing one important piece of the puzzle, a male. Carey decided that she wasn't going to let this stand in her way - she checked out a sperm bank. Before she was actually able to impregnate herself, she ended up falling head-over-heels with a man who loves her in return. She tells Beth to use the vials but the same thing happened for her. She then passed the vials to More...
May 01, 2010
Sara rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I won this book from Goodreads and am surprised by how much I liked it, since it's not the kind of thing I usually pick up, a true story of three friends in their quest for happiness.

Carey, Beth, and Pam are single women approaching 40 who decide, separately, that they're tired of searching for a husband to start a family. Carey, wanting a baby with or without a husband, goes to a sperm bank, but right after her vials arrive, she meets a man and starts a family with him. She passe More...
Apr 28, 2011
Helen added it
A nice story but somewhat unrealistic. Even though it's true, I can't imagine that a lot of other women can relate. These people seemed to have unlimited resources and luck. I also felt they were a bit spoiled. I want, I want, I want.... And they did EVERYTHING they knew to get it. Having sex with strangers, second trimester abortions. I also felt that they were a bit egotistical. One woman breaks up with a boyfriend because she finds that he has written that she is "kind of pretty". H More...
Apr 12, 2011
Jennifer rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I did not realize this was a true story until I was almost at the end of the book. That seems really dumb to say because the title cleary states "TRUE STORY" At first I had a hard time connecting with these women and their lives. Getting married and having children young gave me a total disconnect of their lives. After I got to know more about these women I began to feel for their heartaches and struggles. I did not always agree with their choices but loved to see life from a diff More...
May 25, 2010
Amy rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.


THREE WISHES appealed to me right off the bat because it is the story of three women and their search for love and motherhood in their forties. You often hear people say pithy things like "40 is the new 30" but it is nice to read a book about real women in their quest to "have it all" and the sometime bumpy path that it took to get there.


THREE WISHES follows the lives of three jour More...
May 22, 2011
Christina rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This book was given the nickname "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Sperm" by some reviewer, and understandably so: Carey, a reporter, decides that the time is right, given her age, to have a baby on her own. She buys eight vials of sperm, but ends up meeting a man. She passes the sperm on to Beth, a writer, who also meets someone. Beth then bequeaths the sperm to Pam, also a reporter, who...(fill in the blank.) Despite what may sound like a fairy tale ending for these women, they experi More...
Jan 10, 2012
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars
From My blog...[return][return][return]Carey Goldberg, Beth Jones, and Pamela Ferdinand have compiled an intriguing look into their lives, describing at times in very vivid detail the good along with the bad in Three Wishes. I typically am rather fond of memoirs and while Three Wishes was an interesting read, I had a difficult time relating to the women as individuals. The book is told in alternating voices yet the writing was exceedingly similar making it difficult for me to separate the women. More...
Jun 01, 2010
Carly rated it: 2 of 5 stars
My main problem with this book is that all 3 women wrote in the same style and it was hard to distinguish one author's voice from another (perhaps this was due to them all working as journalists). I also think if I was ten years older and really wanted to have a baby, I would have related more to the characters and cared more about their journeys. The way the publisher presented the book was slightly deceiving; having the donor sperm was only a small part of the story and didn't directly lead to More...
1 comment like (2 people liked it)
May 13, 2010
Cate rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jan 02, 2011
Andrea rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I didnt really like this book. an honest and relevent topic but it was very predictable and the three characters all blended together. I never who who I was reading about because their personalities and lives seemed so similar. Would not recommend unless you are in a similar situation and wanting to hear other peoples stories of embarking on motherhood as a single woman.
May 03, 2010
Katie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book too much--except for the parts where the babies actually came out!--and read the whole thing in one long sitting. These stories would have been unbearably ridiculous had they been fiction. Yet, I can barely believe the whole thing was true. In the end, I can't decide if this made me want to have kids/get married more or less.

In conclusion: magic sperm!
Mar 20, 2011
Dawn rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Great story of sisterhood & the perils of becoming a mom past 35. Pam Ferdinand is my neighbor, one of the 3 authors of this book--but I would have liked it anyway. These are 3 women of considerable resources & education, clearly an advantage when becoming a single mom. A modern story with an old fashioned ending, and worth a read!
Aug 04, 2011
Leigh rated it: 5 of 5 stars
You could not have created a more compelling story. I had made the comment to my husband that if this was a fiction book I would not have enjoyed it as much because it would have felt too contrived. But, this story is a true story and I loved the journey that it took me on with three incredible women!
Jun 01, 2010
Jessica rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I read the review in the NY Times and was intrigued - it's the story of three women and their quest to have children, and how they're linked through a single donor's sperm ... but it's not what you think. Beautifully written, an honest look at life & relationships, for me non fiction that I love to read!
Aug 03, 2010
marin rated it: 3 of 5 stars
not my usual topic (women in their late 30s looking to become parents, single or not), but i am in a memoir kick as of late. fast read with flowing narratives due to the journalist background of the 3 women. bottom line, life is about the curve balls.
Aug 01, 2010
Esther rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Absorbing, enlightening, courageous. Loved this book. One lady Pamela became engaged at the Baha'i House of Worship on the North Shore of Chicago. As a Baha'i, I smiled. Lovely and interesting; encouraging to those who want children!
Feb 06, 2012
Ashlee rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I stole this book from my mothers shelf and I loved it! I was kept wondering and shocked by it all. I felt every bit of emotion that was portrayed throughout the book. It is a book for optimistic women looking for love :)
Sep 24, 2011
Stuart rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Are guys supposed to like this book? Well, I did. Interesting premise, believable, nice way of bringing the reader into the story. I understand that it may not appeal to everyone, but I'm sure glad I found this gem.
Jun 07, 2010
Rebecca rated it: 5 of 5 stars
One of the best books that I have read in a long time. Reading about the lives of these three ladies & the things that they went through to have a child, would often remind me of some of what I went through to have my son.
Jul 13, 2010
Thorn rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I think in trying to make this a chick-lit summer memoir, the authors had a tendency to stray from some of the depth they could have had in talking about their own privilege on several fronts.
Dec 14, 2010
Lori rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Heard author speak at the Jewish book festival and received signed copy of the book.
Quick, easy, enjoyable read that I could totally relate to. The author lives in the Boston area.