Gift of a Child

Thousands of women who want to bear children but cannot, endure tremendous emotional, physical, and financial costs when they explore alternative approaches. This is the heartening story of two women who chose a very personal option. The author, a former protestant minister married to a physicist, decides to bear a child for her longtime friend Alycia, who is infertile. She writes movingly about her pregnancy and the child's birth, but is quite unprepared for the distancing of the couples, which is compounded by the heart-wrenching sense of loss at giving up her newborn daughter. What had begun with the good intentions of two compassionate women becomes a moral and spiritual crisis for both mothers. This crisis is resolved a year later in an astonishing encounter in which they explore their profoundly complex emotions. They come to accept each other's journey and celebrate the love of their daughter. An inspiring story of a wondrous gift of love and compassion, told with clear-eyed, simple eloquence, by an author uniquely qualified to examine the moral and spiritual issues.Thompson, Mary Anne is the author of 'Gift of a Child' with ISBN 9781930722170 and ISBN 1930722176.