In Vitro Fertility Goddess

Q & A

Q: Jodi, what motivated you to write In Vitro Fertility Goddess??

A: Probably a similar thing that motivated me to have a baby. I had the makings of a book with the diary notes I'd kept during my quest to fall pregnant and I didn't feel they should be left in an unfinished state.

Q: You are among the few authors to describe your own personal experience in a non-fiction book. Why did you decide not to hide behind a work of fiction and share your most intimate details with your readers??

A: For a start, as the book was based on my diary, it would have been quite obvious to anyone who knew me that it wasn't fiction. More importantly I think that a book about such a topic has a much stronger resonance with readers who may be suffering similar things and therefore be more helpful to them. And anyone who had the god awful ‘Emma's Pregnancy Diary' foisted upon them by their maternity hospital will agree.

Q: Did you ever have second thoughts about laying yourself bare like that??

A: Not until I'd finished it, but by then it was too late. Yet I believe that to be so candid is the only way to properly deal with the issues. For instance you can't talk about trying to conceive by saying you kept searching in the cabbage patch or praying for the stork to land. It came with the territory.

Q: Your book is very funny indeed…how did you manage to turn such a serious and emotionally challenging topic into something humorous??

A: I didn't deliberately set out to be funny, it's actually the way I see things - life is full of absurdities and none more so than Assisted Reproductive Techniques. Poking fun at myself, my husband, my uterus and the entourage of people and utensils I enlisted to help me have a baby was my way of dealing with it.

Q: Do you always use humour to deal with adversity in your life??

A: Yes, absolutely. For instance I'm shortly to undergo a total hysterectomy and afterwards I've told my friends I'm having a ‘Becoming half a Woman' party where I get to dress up in false eyelashes and a spangly frock and mime Whitney Houston songs.

Q: Some therapists argue that a positive mindset is key to overcoming infertility…do you agree??

A: I'd say it's one of the keys but unfortunately it's the one you keep misplacing.

Q: Did you ever believe you wouldn't succeed, that you wouldn't have a child??

A: I didn't think that far ahead, life became very much a day by day, hour by hour thing when we were going through it all. I believe my husband and I did have a brief discussion at one point about travelling to Bulgaria to obtain donor eggs but I may have blanked out as I can't remember much.

Q: Most fertility-challenged women are often faced with the stark choice of using traditional or alternative therapies but you chose both, why??

A: In a word - panic. I'd been on the herbal treatment for several months and although there was unarguably a vast improvement in my system I just wanted to grab the bull by the horns and take more dramatic action. In retrospect I truly believe the fertility herbs » were instrumental in preparing for the IVF so that it was successful.

Q: But when it came to the crunch you chose IVF, why??

A: As I've said, panic due to getting older. And there was the abrogation of responsibility to someone else, which I was ready to do.

Q: What was your reaction when you found out, against all odds, that you were pregnant after your first attempt at IVF??

A: The nurse at the IVF clinic was looking at someone else's result!

Q: Did the alternative treatments your undertook play a role in the success of your IVF procedure??

A: I'm convinced that they did. Particularly the fertility herbs »

Q: What about your husband, how instrumental was he in getting you across the line??

A: He's always been 100% behind me or beside me or wherever I've told him to be. I couldn't have done it without him (obviously), but in the sense of the emotional support he's given me.

Q: How did you and your husband feel when you finally gave birth to a healthy baby girl??

A: Totally elated that we gave birth to a healthy baby, so much so that I forgot to ask what sex it was. Yes we're thrilled to have a daughter.

Q: You then went through another attempt at IVF to have a second child…what happened there??

A: There were three more attempts to have a child via IVF, two failed due to drugs not working and one was a frozen embryo implant which didn't take.

Q: Was it as distressing for you as when you experienced recurrent miscarriages in the lead up to having your first child??

A: I actually experienced a miscarriage on our daughter's first birthday after a natural conception so that day was incredibly fraught with emotion for many reasons. While I was very sad that I didn't manage to have another child with the subsequent IVF procedures, I have to say that it is easier to work through when you already have a miracle child.

Q: So, what's the key message you'd like people to walk away with once they've read In Vitro Fertility Goddess??

A: That what you are going through is one of life's great absurdities and it's normal to carry a thermometer everywhere, have hobbies involving mucous and hate pregnant women. And with that hopefully you'll feel a sense of empowerment because it's one of the true keys to getting what you want.

Q: And what's your next project, a sequel perhaps??

A: In which case it'd be called ‘Hysterectomy Goddess'. No, seriously I've written a book about the years flying for the now defunct Ansett Airlines, snippets of which are in In Vitro Fertility Goddess. It's a humorous book with a more light-hearted theme. 

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