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I'm Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood
by
Lisa Manterfield was a sensible 32-year-old when she met The One—a man who sparked a passion for tango, an urge to break down closed doors, and a deep-rooted desire to reproduce. Five years later she was a baby addict, hiding her addiction, plotting a maternity ward heist, and threatening anything that got in her way, including her beloved husband and his pesky practicalit
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Paperback, 212 pages
Published
January 4th 2011
by Steel Rose Press
(first published November 18th 2010)
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Start your review of I'm Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood

I'm Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood is Lisa Manterfield’s heartfelt story of how she came to terms with childlessness.
The appropriately named book will resonate with any woman who has desired to have children, but due to infertility or other circumstances, did not succeed. Quite frankly, it is a good read for anyone who has ever grappled with a deeply emotional issue. That’s all of us.
But be ready for boldness. This writer doesn’t do sugarcoating. Hip ...more
The appropriately named book will resonate with any woman who has desired to have children, but due to infertility or other circumstances, did not succeed. Quite frankly, it is a good read for anyone who has ever grappled with a deeply emotional issue. That’s all of us.
But be ready for boldness. This writer doesn’t do sugarcoating. Hip ...more

Not a bad read though I felt it took almost half the book to get to the point where the writer even begun questioning her fertility and it was only in the last quarter (or less) that she reached the point of saying no to motherhood. I would have liked to see the first part edited back and more detail on the aftermath of her decision.

Lisa Manterfield didn't so much "say no to motherhood" as she threw a tantrum and deemed herself too good for it once she realized it wasnt going to happen. It was a "You can't fire me because I quit" style situation. She's self absorbed and selfish.Definitely not worth reading. The narrator is so irritatingly selfish and self-absorbed it's hard to feel any sympathy for her. I kept waiting for the turning point where she would grow the fuck up and become likeable and it just never happened. Her
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This book has changed my life. I felt like it was written straight from my heart. This is a difficult topic that's not too often discussed. The author takes you on her journey of infertility. She is humorous and shares her thoughts very honestly- it's not boring at all! If someone you know struggles with infertitily and living a childless life, buy them & yourself a copy. It will help you better understand what they're going through.
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This was a really excellently written, intelligent and heart-felt book. It was so good I couldn't put it down -- I stayed up late and finished it in one day.
We haven't yet traveled as far down the IF path as the author (we're going to start testing in the next couple months), but all of the content leading up to the author's IF testing rang true and familiar to me (I'm pretty sure I recognized the website she talks about joining, having used it myself for a year and a half), and I found myself ...more
We haven't yet traveled as far down the IF path as the author (we're going to start testing in the next couple months), but all of the content leading up to the author's IF testing rang true and familiar to me (I'm pretty sure I recognized the website she talks about joining, having used it myself for a year and a half), and I found myself ...more

Few infertility memoirs on the market these days feature the childfree ending, but the chidlfree-and-not-by-choice community is one that is slowly growing and one to which I recently joined the ranks. Lisa's story, humorously told, was one which resonated with both myself and my husband. The long time desire for a child, finding one's partner somewhat late in life, the ensuing struggle to have a child while keeping one's sanity and marriage together; and finally coming to the slow realization th
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There were moments when I wasn't sure how I felt about this book. Not because it wasn't goo, but because her story is so different from my own. In the end I'm very glad I read it. It gives me hope that I will be okay if my dream of having kids doesn't come true.
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Spend some time in Lisa's world and receive, what feels like, an uncensored peek at one woman's thought process through her infertility. Even though this is not a subject I truly understand, or have experienced in a visceral way, Lisa takes those utterly human and universal moments.... where we have thoughts... you know the ones... that might be unsightly... so complex in their nature as to seduce and repel others and even ourselves, and courageously shares them with you.
This is not an easy thi ...more
This is not an easy thi ...more

Dec 25, 2014
Susan Bazzett-Griffith
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
memoirs-biography,
mom-parenting-books
3.5 stars. This was a difficult book to read, having struggled with infertility myself and been blessed with one miraculous little boy and suffering 4 miscarriages before needing a hysterectomy. Lisa Manterfield's journey through a myriad of doctors and the repeated fundamental stages of grief over a six year period is rendered thoughtfully and powerfully through her memoir. I could feel her desperation and heartbreak, and at the end, her begrudging acceptance. The one thing I didn't like readin
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I thought this was well-told and an enjoyable read, and I am grateful for infertility stories that do not result in a miracle baby. Miracle baby stories are over represented because people love to tell and hear those stories. Accounts of people resolving their infertility by choosing to remain childfree are necessary.
Lisa is very honest about some of the uglier feelings brought out by her infertility and it could be uncomfortable to read at times. But having gone through it myself and having att ...more
Lisa is very honest about some of the uglier feelings brought out by her infertility and it could be uncomfortable to read at times. But having gone through it myself and having att ...more

This book is a great contribution to the infertile community. I would highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with infertility, or knows anyone dealing with infertility. It really helps you understand what women go through. Lisa is an excellent writer, so the book is a quick read (I finished it in one afternoon). See what else I thought about this book on September 18, at www.vivacioushobo.com
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I loved this book! Very seldom do you find a book that is full of "real" thoughts and feelings from the author. So many women struggle with infertility and this was an honest approach to one couple's story. What a great read.
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This isn't a poorly written book, but I just can't relate to this baby madness.
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I’m Lisa Manterfield and I love telling stories.
I’m a curious cat and I’m fascinated by human behavior and what makes people tick.
I love fish-out-of-water stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, especially if those situations delve into the unexplained.
I love digging up nuggets of history—not the vast sweeping stories of events that changed the world, but the personal stories of pe ...more
I’m a curious cat and I’m fascinated by human behavior and what makes people tick.
I love fish-out-of-water stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, especially if those situations delve into the unexplained.
I love digging up nuggets of history—not the vast sweeping stories of events that changed the world, but the personal stories of pe ...more
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