THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE been possible without the generous insights and expertise of the medical professionals, social workers, and other experts who took the time to share their experience with me. I am grateful to all the specialists interviewed for this book, especially the extraordinary staff at the Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, who allowed me to spend time with them learning more about their groundbreaking work. Special thanks are also due to Lindsay Nohr Beck of Fertile Hope, who not only shared her own story but provided unique insights on the field of cancer, fertility, pregnancy, and parenting.
But even more than the professionals and experts, I owe thanks to the many families who took time to share their personal stories with me. Every family’s journey through cancer to parenthood is a different one, yet in so many ways they are at heart the same: people who have fought one battle, to survive, and then had to wage yet another, to become parents—two things that most people take for granted. I can’t thank you all enough for being willing to reach out to other families like yours through this book.
Special thanks are also due to my heroic husband, Evan, and three amazing kids, Annika, Adrian, and Katia; to my dad, Ronald Shaw, who’s always believed in me; to Annika’s extraordinary birth mom, Kim, who gave us the joy of becoming parents for the first time; to my wonderful agent, Maria Massie of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin; and to the great cadre of friends who’ve cheered me on for the past several years as I worked to make the dream of this book a reality—especially Mark Rotella, who made that first connection!