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Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility
Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility
Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility
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Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility

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Infertility is one of the most painful and painfullycommon of human experiences. One in six couples will experience fertility challenges when they attempt to get pregnant, and while more and more people have spoken openly about infertility in recent years, the experience can still be incredibly isolating.

But none of us is alone in our struggles. In fact, infertility is a universal part of the human experience that is mentioned in the earliest human writings. Across cultures and throughout time, the experiences of people who have faced fertility problems are widely discussed in early manuscripts, medical treatises, diaries, novels, poetry, plays, and song.

After her own decade-long struggle to conceive, linguist and historian Karen Stollznow journeyed through history--from ancient civilizations and religions, to early-modern folklore, to current-day popular culture and modern medical practice--to try to make sense of what we mean by infertility and what infertility means for us. In Missed Conceptions, she shines a light on attitudes and beliefs about infertility, tests urban legends and old wives' tales, explores folk medicine and alternative therapies, and delves into modern science, separating fact from fiction along the way.

Blending personal narrative, historical research, and pop culture, Stollznow gives voice to a reality that has long been spoken about in hushed tones. For anyone who is trying (and failing) to conceive, who will do just about anything to achieve what has been mistakenly called "the most natural thing in the world," this book is a welcome and hopeful companion.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 25, 2023
ISBN9781506485270
Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility
Author

Karen Stollznow

Bestselling author Karen Stollznow's non-fiction works include Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility; On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present; Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic; God Bless America; Haunting America, and Would You Believe It? Her fiction includes the anthology Fisher's Ghost and Other Stories; the novel Hits & Mrs.; and the short stories Unforeseen Circumstances; Don't Leave Me; Welcome Home; The Dark Road; I Am Me; Room for One More: Lord Dufferin's Tale; The Screaming Skull; The Way We Weren't; Leap of Faith (The Guardian Angel); and Oliver & Olivia.A host of the popular science podcast Monster Talk, she has spent many years investigating urban legends and folklore. A Doctor of Linguistics, she has taught at several universities in the United States and Australia. She was formerly a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently a researcher at Griffith University. Karen was born in Sydney, Australia, and she currently lives in Denver, Colorado.

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    Missed Conceptions - Karen Stollznow

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