Meharry Medical School’s Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, FACOG has co-authored an informative guide for those struggling with infertility. Planning Parenthood: Strategies for Success in Fertility Assistance, Adoption, and Surrogacy, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, takes prospective parents through the maze of assisted reproduction technologies and adoption.

 

The chair of Meharry’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology worked on the book with Rebecca A. Clark, MD, PhD; Jill Hayes, PhD; Michelle Murphy, JD; and Katherine Pucheu Theall, PhD. Together the team explored the medical, emotional, financial and legal aspects of different paths to parenthood.

 

“Once you get married, the expectation is you’re going to have children,” noted Richard-Davis, who also serves as associate director for the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry. When pregnancy doesn’t happen easily, it’s crushing for some. “When couples start the process, it’s usually under the umbrella of such emotional anxiety,” she continued.

 

Richard-Davis knows exactly how her patients feel. Both she and co-author Clark struggled to start their own families. Richard-Davis recalled that Clark, who is an infectious disease expert at LSU Health Sciences Center, approached her with the idea of creating a book that comprehensively addresses all the options for couples experiencing infertility.

 

“When I get to help couples achieve their dream of parenthood, it’s an overwhelming feeling of exhilaration,” Richard-Davis concluded.