Tags
Related Posts
Share This
TICK TOCK
When Kasey Edwards discovers she’ll be infertile within a year, she is forced to dig the baby issue out of the too-hard basket. She explores what motherhood would mean to her identity, her career, her body, her relationships and her mental health.
What would it be like to want a baby but be unable to have one? Or what would it be like to have a baby only to find that you preferred your life before? Would your life be ruined?
Kasey speaks to people who claim motherhood is the best thing they’ve ever done, and people who say it’s the worst. She discovers how the desire for a baby can drive people to the brink of insanity; the logistical challenges of ovulating and trying to conceive on a long-haul flight; the indignity and despair of IVF; and the price of sperm on the internet.
Women are always hearing about the ‘biological clock’; warned not to leave having babies until it’s too late. At thirty-something, Kasey Edwards thinks she has oodles of time to think about the baby question – unfortunately, her body has other ideas.
Thirty-Something and the Clock is Ticking, is the witty and forthright account of a woman, ambivalent about motherhood, who is told she has only a year of fertility left. She doesn’t know if she wants a baby, but it’s now or never.
Diagnosed with severe endometriosis, Kasey has to decide whether she wants to be a parent – she reads books, she talks to friends, tracks down experts and examines the pros and cons and motherhood from every angle. And after considering all the evidence, the answer is ‘yes’.
Her journey isn’t an easy one. And it involves some BIG issues…not only the question of having children, but also marriage and assisted conception.
She rides the rollercoaster of trying to conceive naturally before undergoing IVF treatment, giving the reader an unflinchingly honest account of the emotional and physical highs and lows of the process. And in the end? She’s one of the lucky ones who gets a baby at the end.
But, as any mum knows, the story doesn’t finish with the birth. There are the challenges of breastfeeding, the loss of identity that sometimes accompanies motherhood, and the ‘groundhog days’ of having a small child. Kasey touches on all of these things, with a fine balance of realness and humour.
So much of what Kasey wrote about had me nodding my head. Having overcome infertility myself, I found she captured the emotions of the journey so well and with complete honesty. It takes a brave person to reveal so much of themselves and their partner.
It’s heavy subject matter, but it’s an easy read. Kasey has a lovely, breezy style and her self-deprecating humour makes the book an enjoyable (and at the same time, somewhat educational) experience.
Thirty-Something and the Clock is Ticking is more than just one woman’s story. It’s a fearless look at motherhood – the good bits, the bad bits, and all that’s in-between. A must-read for anyone contemplating the baby question.
Find out more about Kasey here and buy Thirty-Something and the Clock is Ticking here or here.
What’s the best book you’ve read lately?
There’s not too many books you sing along to (however tunelessly), but Paul Kelly’s “How to make Gravy’ is one. He tells the stories behind the songs and these stories range from the deeply personal to issues of national importance. There’s a sly wit and charm in the writing. my only complaint was the thickness and heaviness of the book made it hard to read in bed. Even if you don’t want to read it cover to cover it’s well worth checking out your favourites.