Boundless: An Abortion Doctor Becomes a Mother

by Christine Henneberg

What does it mean to choose—or choose not—to have a child, and what does it mean when that choice isn’t yours to make? A young physician in training imagines deliberately shaping her life by her choices. But when she finds herself pregnant and performing abortions for women not so different from her, she is forced to reckon with the hardest questions: What is the source of her agency and the root of her ambition? What does it mean to make a “good” choice when so little is under her control? And how can she maintain her boundaries in a world of boundless love—the world of motherhood? Her answers, bravely and beautifully articulated, lie at the heart of this provocative, tender, deeply empathic memoir. With a courageous, unflinching voice and a singular perspective from the abortion frontlines, Boundless raises radical and essential questions about boundaries, bodies, and the meaning of choice.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2022

About the author

Christine Henneberg is a writer and a physician who practices women’s health and family planning. She earned a BA in English and Creative Writing at Pomona College and an MD/MS from the UC Berkeley - UCSF Joint Medical Program. Her essays have been published in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Boston Review, Slate, and elsewhere. She lives in California.

Reviews

[Christine Henneberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I’m going to rate my own book five stars. It’s not perfect. But I recommend it.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and deeply personal, Boundless wrestles with themes that couldn’t be more timely today in the ongoing fight for women’s autonomy over their bodies and choices regarding their lives.

[Yunong Bai · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Boundless” is not your typical physician memoir. Instead of presenting a trailblazer persona who eventually achieved the impossible, Christine Henneberg sliced through herself and poured her essence onto the pages. As a budding medical student who feels a constant yearning to be doing something else, I truly appreciate her honestly and vulnerability. She talked about secretly playing the role as “the reporter in an army squad” during internship, the despair to feel her ability to write is slipping away, the desperate need to believe and be believed in that she could help, the struggles with the difficult loves in marriage, families, cultures, people. I was fortunate enough to attend a book club where Dr. Henneberg joined us over zoom, where she talked about her dream as a medical student to be a physician-writer. I really like what she wrote about providing abortion care: “A pregnant woman needs a doctor who respects language, who will choose words carefully. Help her write a story that she can live with, even be proud of.” A physician-writer is not only fulfilling two different careers at two different times, but sometimes able to do so simultaneously.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book hoping to leave it more open-minded and understanding. Instead, I found it deeply disturbing and Dr. Henneberg very difficult to empathize with.

Dr. Henneberg performs truly impressive mental gymnastics to prevent calling abortion what it is -- killing. Whether you say "ending a pregnancy," as she is always so careful to, or "killing a fetus," it amounts to the same act, which is described in graphic detail -- the procedure of ripping a fetus apart and removing it from the uterus piece by piece. In this way, her memoir exemplifies the enormous power of language to shape our worldview.

I do not doubt that Dr. Henneberg believes she is performing a valuable service to the women she encounters. I do not doubt that she wrote this book in good faith or that she loves her daughter. However, she never fully seems to reconcile her profession -- ripping an 18-week fetus apart -- with her sympathy for her friend's loss at the same gestational age. Maybe this dissonance is the source of her disconnection from her daughter up until her birth. Dr. Henneberg refuses to assign any level of humanity to fetuses still within their mothers, a position that strikes me as fundamentally dishonest when most parents can attest to the deep love and connection they feel with their unborn offspring.

I was hoping to come away from this book with the politically correct opinion -- with sympathy for the "pro-choice" point of view. I was grossly disappointed. Perhaps I expected the wrong thing from this book. Dr. Henneberg's prose is elegant and engaging, and she does acknowledge the complexity of her work and her patient's experiences, so credit where credit is due: three stars.

[Bonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boundless is billed as the story of an abortion doctor becoming a mother, but it's really the story of a young woman growing up and questioning her choices of medicine, marriage, and motherhood. Dr. Henneberg has written this story with honesty, thoughtfulness, and vulnerability. She writes truthfully about wondering if she could manage to stay in medicine and still make her physician husband feel loved. The chapters are full of candor about how she loves to perform abortions, and even though this sounds like an odd thing to say, she realizes that she likes providing women with the freedom to make choices. She wrote the book in 2018 and a separate foreword in 2022, and even though she practices in California, she has had to ask the question about her patients: what would happen if they were in Texas? (and now a whole host of other states that have restricted access to abortion healthcare).

Boundless is the story of how I learned what motherhood is - its choices, sacrifices, hopes, joys, and regrets - through my training and practice as an abortion doctor.

I highly recommend this honest look at motherhood, which includes loving the lives that are conceived but not born.

[Heather Altamura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, humble and beautifully written

Truly one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a long time. It was honest, captivating, and portrayed the best and worst moments many birthing people encounter as they navigate pregnancy and birth. The writing made me feel like I was on the journey with her (Dr. Henneberg), and even allowed me to relive many aspects of my own first pregnancy experience. The prose felt raw, real, and relatable in all the ways a reader hopes for when they read this kind of prose. I give my thanks to Dr. Henneberg for choosing to share such a private (and beautiful) time of her life with the world.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to give this author credit. I thought I'd exceeded my capacity to be shocked when it came to abortion. But she managed to shock me.

No matter how low the bar is set when it comes to abortion providers, they somehow manage to go under it. It's amazing. I mean, the bar is practically on the floor, but here we are.

Babies born alive during abortion procedures? Fetal dismemberment? Lying to pregnant people? Women with major complications being sent home instead of the hospital? No big deal, right?

Wow.

[ashna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty slow moving and intense, though I appreciate the transparency about the reality of abortions for providers and patients. The book talks about the procedure of abortions in great detail, which was interesting not really knowing that prior, though it is difficult to read if you’re not great stomaching medical procedures 😄 The book definitely into context the reality of demand for abortions in the US and what this pressure is like for both patients and abortion providers. Good read, though difficult to get through.

[Sophie Schott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I read this is 24 hours and could not look away. Henneberg writes with lyricism and honesty. The pieces that she shares of her life in medical school and residency were so comforting to me—I relate deeply the pull of patient stories, of caring for women. Overall, this is a quick read that opens a new space in conversations about abortion, acknowledging how complicated pregnancy and the choices that women make often are. I loved it and would like to read again.

[A Byford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written, thoughtful and fearless.
Christine weaves her personal and professional experience into an exploration of motherhood and female choices.
Abortion is part of this array of choices and yet rarely explored in this way.
I found this book both moving and thought provoking. A thoroughly engaging read.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautiful and raw. It adds humanity to cold systems that take control away from us (if we even had it). It brings warmth and understanding to spaces and situations that feel desperate and desolate. Dr. Henneberg writes with such thought and intention. This book validates and challenges you at the same time. Such an incredible read.

[Morning Glory]

Good secular look at the abortion issue, but never gets to the heart of the matter. She expresses frustration at always having to affirm patient beliefs about the life status of their fetuses. Very graphic.

[felicia song · Rating 5 out of 5]

raw and imperfect, and endlessly beautiful.

[Kelsey Blaser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Henneberg is a great writer and adds a unique perspective to the dialogue of abortion in the U.S. Thank you for sharing.

[Audreygold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brave and courageous book written by a woman that lives in my community about her life experiences.

[Annika Detweiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing book about the complex issue of abortion, motherhood, pursuing your career as a mother, deep love and so much more. An amazing writer and keeps you reading!!

[Nickole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no respect for writers who leave negative reviews for fellow writers..
and it's always the ones who can't even get an audience for their own (in this case boring) books