Navigating the Land of If: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options

Author of the extremely successful blog Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters, Melissa Ford presents readers with a guide for navigating the complex world of infertility. The Land of If got its name not only because "IF” is the abbreviation for "infertility” in the online world, but also because there are so many "ifs” inherent in being here. 

No stranger to the Land of If herself, Ford shares her hard-earned knowledge and insights, helping couples struggling with infertility understand the lingo, learn the details doctors tend to leave out, and keep their emotional sanity despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Navigating the Land of If gives the nitty-gritty on injections, rejections, biting your tongue during happy parent-to-be conversations, and trying not to cry over baby shower invitations. 

With chapters that include how-to’s for same-sex couples, and present adoption or remaining child-free as plausible alternatives, Ford tells you exactly what you need to know, from one infertile to another.

Melissa Ford is the author of the extremely successful blog Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters (stirrup-queens.blogspot.com), which receives more than 1000 visitors per day and has hundreds of subscribers. The blog attracts readers in big cities from New York City to San Francisco as well as small town couples from Irving, Texas to Roscommon, Michigan.

She has earned the job of tour guide for Navigating the Land of If by going through both primary and secondary infertility. She has spent more time with her feet in the gynecological stirrups than on the ground. She conceived her twins three years ago through in-uterine insemination (IUI) with injectibles. She is still firmly entrenched in secondary infertility as she tries to complete her family. Her diagnosis runs afoul with more abbreviations than a ticker tape at the Stock Exchange (just for the record, high FSH, LPD, MTHFR, PA1-4G/4G). How can a person not need a book to interpret all of those letters?

Melissa Ford received her BA in creative writing and anthropology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and her MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts—Amherst. She worked with Jay Neugeboren and John Edgar Wideman while obtaining her MFA, and taught English and history at the middle school level for six years. She lives with her family in Maryland.