My Journey to Motherhood after Cancer and Infertility

Abstract

The following manuscript is an autoethnographic study with the aim to offer readers an understanding of not only the lived experience of infertility, but also of starting a family through assisted reproductive technologies (ART). It is a deeply personal body of work in which I wrestle with the grief and loss of my own infertility and navigate my way through the complexities and challenges of having a child through ART. It is a collection of memories and reflections on my journey to motherhood after cancer through an egg donor and gestational surrogate. The personal narratives are combined with scholarly literature on infertility and ART.