Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Panic & Joy

By: Emma Brockes
Narrated by: Emma Brockes
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

When British journalist, memoirist, and New York transplant Emma Brockes decides to become pregnant, she quickly realises that, being single, 37 and in the early stages of a same-sex relationship, she's going to have to be untraditional about it. From the moment she decides to stop 'futzing' around, have her eggs counted and 'get cracking'; through multiple trials of IUI, which she is intrigued to learn can be purchased in bulk packages, just like at Costco; to the births of her twins, which her girlfriend gamely documents with her iPhone and selfie stick, Brockes is never any less than bluntly honest about her extraordinary journey to motherhood.

She quizzes her friends on the pros and cons of personally knowing one's sperm donor, grapples with esoteric medical jargon and the existential brain melt of flipping through donor catalogues, and conjures with the politics of her Libertarian OB/GYN - all the while exploring the cultural circumstances and choices that have brought her to this point.

Brockes writes with charming, self-effacing humour about being a British woman undergoing fertility treatment in the United States, poking fun at the starkly different attitude of Americans. Anxious that biological children might not be possible, she wonders, should she resent society for how it regards and treats women who try and fail to have children? Brockes deftly uses her own story to examine how and why an increasing number of women are using fertility treatments in order to become parents - and are doing it solo. Bringing the listener every step of the way with mordant wit and remarkable candour, Brockes shares the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises and, finally, joys of her momentous and excellent choice.

©2018 Emma Brockes (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Liv's Alone cover art
Ladyparts cover art
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober cover art
Mumpreneur on Fire 4 cover art
Little Matches cover art
Thanks for Waiting cover art
Single, Again, and Again, and Again... cover art
Confessions of the Other Mother cover art
Knocking Myself Up cover art
The Pursuit of Motherhood cover art
Undoctored cover art
A Light That Never Goes Out cover art
The Mother Project cover art
Becoming Us cover art
I Am Not Your Baby Mother cover art
It Starts with the Egg cover art

What listeners say about Panic & Joy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting and eye opening

Really enjoyed listening to this book. the author tapped into the topics I have not yet considered. I was waiting impatiently every day for the story unfold.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking and informative

This book has really helped me as I am about to embark on the same journey!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!