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Rachel Cathan is a writer from Bedfordshire. In 2001, a mutual friend introduced her to a part-time pub DJ in Southend-on-Sea. A month later, they had moved in together, around seven years later they tied the knot, and a little while after that – just like so many couples before them – they made the exciting and terrifying decision to start a family. And then, like a growing number of couples today, well…not a lot happened.
Throughout the subsequent years of fertility investigations and failed treatments, Rachel kept a diary of her experiences, and it’s from these first-hand encounters in the world of infertility and IVF that her first book, 336 Hours has been adapted.
Thanks to the eventual discovery of a wonderful fertility specialist, she is now the mother of two small children.
Reviewed by Alyssa Elmore for Readers' Favorite
Rachel Cathan's 336 Hours is the humorous story of a young woman determined to get pregnant. Rachel is in her early thirties, a wife, and formerly successful career woman. Five years ago, Rachel quit her high-stress job to focus full-time on her current career; getting pregnant. After several years of happy marriage, Rachel and her husband, DH, realized that something was wrong. No matter whose advice they took, what they did and where, they just simply couldn't conceive a baby. Rachel finally convinces DH to try a doctor. Several years and many thousands spent, Rachel and DH find themselves nearly at the end of the road. Rachel is about to start their third and last IVF treatment. She is petrified. If this last treatment doesn't take, what will she do? They can't afford another procedure. She wants a baby. She wants to experience pregnancy in all its undignified glory. She wants to hold her precious baby in her arms. But now it is up to the Fates to decide. Follow Rachel and DH on a heart-wrenching journey through pain, disappointment, and hope as they show you what life is like inside the heads and hearts of an infertile couple. This story begins at the final fourteen crucial days of her last procedure; this account is taken from the author's diaries of the most trying and grueling five years of her life. At times it is laugh-out-loud funny, and at others, devastatingly sad, but so very honest. What will be the result of the next 336 hours?
Rachel Cathan's 336 Hours is the memoir of a woman undergoing IVF treatments. The story is based on real life problems and events, taking the reader inside the turbulent life of a desperate couple trying to conceive. The author's honesty about her feelings, emotions, and sometimes overly-stressed thoughts was refreshing. I knew a couple that wanted children, but like Rachel and DH, they just couldn't seem to get the BFP (Big Fat Pregnant) sign. I used to wonder what she was thinking as she waited for the results of her last treatment. I wasn't sure I would ever know - until I read this book. I knew something had changed since she had started IVF; she aged twenty years overnight. Thanks to Rachel and DH, I can better understand the private hell she and husband were living. It is such a shame, too. It shouldn't have to be that way. This book was an eye-opener. I was laughing, crying, and screaming at the injustice of it all alongside Rachel. I would recommend this book to those that know someone going through IVF or simply having trouble conceiving, and of course to those that are on their own IVF journey. The author's message is clear. Just because some people don't understand doesn't mean that you are alone.
