Roads to Family - by Rachel Hs Ginocchio (Paperback)

About the Book

"This informative compendium goes beyond the basics of sexual reproduction to examine the diversity of family creation. Using interviews with individuals and families, Rachel Ginocchio breaks down in-vitro fertilization, surrogacy, adoption, and more"--

Book Synopsis

What makes a family?

The ties that bind a family together can be complicated. People define family using genetics, legal commitments, physical and emotional connections, a combination of these, or something else entirely. A person's family can expand, contract, and adapt over time. One of the most common changes in a family involves adding children. But exactly how those children become part of a family can be a journey full of twists and turns.

Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be provides readers with a roadmap of the many routes prospective parents can take to bring children into their lives. Public health educator Rachel Ginocchio goes beyond the basics of human reproduction to break down how intended parents use insemination, in-vitro fertilization, donors, surrogacy, adoption, and more to grow their families. Accounts from real people with wide-ranging backgrounds and identities bring this compendium to life, highlighting the roadblocks and delights of their quest to build a family of their own. This informative and inclusive guide shines a spotlight on the beauty and complexity of what it means to be family.

"Roads to Family is a terrific book for humans of all ages to learn about the different ways families are created. By including stories from nearly every kind of family, this book expands the idea of family beyond typical clinical explanations and is a celebration of diversity."--Amy Lang, MA, speaker, author, podcaster and founder of Birds & Bees & Kids

Review Quotes

"Roads to Family is a terrific book for humans of all ages to learn about the different ways families are created. By including stories from nearly every kind of family, this book expands the idea of family beyond typical clinical explanations and is a celebration of diversity."--Amy Lang, MA, speaker, author, podcaster and founder of Birds & Bees & Kids

-- (9/11/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"[C]omprehensive, inclusive of the diverse medical and societal methods people use, including in-virto fertilization, surrogacy, adoption, and more. This book is thorough, medically accurate, yet not overwhelming." --Melissa Pintor Carnagey, Founder and lead educator of Sex Positive Families

-- (9/11/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Ginocchio is here for readers who want to learn more about reproduction and families than the simple birds-and-the-bees, sex-leads-to-babies explanations provide. . . Families come in a variety of arrangements, all of which are worthy of pride. Reviewer Rating: 5" --Children's Literature

-- (9/19/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"I hope the honest and heartfelt stories in this informative book empower donor conceived readers to own their experience and continue to define their family on their own terms."--Erin Jackson, Founder, We Are Donor Conceived

-- (4/6/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Rachel Ginocchio's Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be creates a beautiful tapestry of families around the world. With rich personal stories, clear explanations and incredibly helpful illustrations, readers will be delighted and amazed at the diversity of families and come to better understand and appreciate how parents and kids come to be in families together. This is a must-read for everyone who is part of a family."--Nora Gelperin, Division Director, Sex Education and Training Team, Advocates for Youth

-- (4/6/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"A rich and resourceful guide . . . The book is nuanced, bringing to the forefront the validity of all families along with answers to the questions young people might have about themselves and others."--Kirkus Reviews

-- (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Within each chapter, Ginocchio tells engaging, lengthy stories, based on interviews, of several racially and ethnically diverse parents, from same-sex relationships to individuals who wanted to be parents to heterosexual couples struggling with infertility, and how they brought children into their lives. . . . Supplemental facts and figures as well as enlightening graphics enhance this much-needed and inclusive resource."--starred, Booklist

-- (3/15/2023 12:00:00 AM)