game: The Great Sperm Race

A silly little diversion from the seriousness of baby-making:  a short game where you try to navigate a sperm cell through the “dangers” of the vagina.  Free on line game from Channel 4 TV station in the UK.

The Great Sperm Race

book: “Embryo Culture”

Embryo culture: Making babies in the twenty-first century.

By B. Kohl.  New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, c2007.

This personal memoir of a woman’s struggle to conceive discusses religious and ethical concerns, along with many details of the scientific processes she encountered.  Although not a guide to “what went wrong and how to fix it,” the reader can find many useful medical information scattered throughout.  This book reads almost like a novel, with lots of dialogue and some humor.  It may be comforting to infertile women who are burned-out on reading the latest step-by-step “how to get pregnant” book.

book: “Taking Charge of Your Fertility”

Taking charge of your fertility: The definitive guide to natural birth control, pregnancy achievement, and reproductive health.

By T. Weschler.  New York, NY: HarperCollins, c2006.

This bestseller is now available in a new, 10th anniversary, edition with a CD-ROM of the “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” software (trial edition.)  This is the definitive guide for learning how to chart menstrual cycles, basal body temperature, and other signs of fertility.  Numerous appendices discuss irregular cycles, drugs that may impact your cycle, terminology, abbreviations, recommended books and websites.  There is even a bit of humor sprinkled throughout.  The extensive nature of the glossary, bibliography, and index is commendable.  Ten blank charts are included, to be photocopied as needed.  The book is printed on heavy newsprint-type paper, to keep the price of this nearly 500 page volume reasonable.  The font is very attractive, and it is laid out with wide margins for taking notes.  A section of color photos in the center is very useful.