"Sherri barely heard a word of what followed. A new number! A new reality! Another possible baby she could call her own!"
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Chasing Her Destiny by Terri Friedlander Black Rose Writing
book review by Sheila M. Trask
The road to motherhood is not always straightforward, and Friedlander takes her readers through every turn of the maze in this novel about a career woman trying everything to start a family. All her life, Sherri has been in control. She's got a high-powered career in communications. She bought her own house and even her own boat. When she wanted to get married, she set her sights with a personal ad and found Kent in record time.
Unfortunately, when it comes to getting pregnant, Sherri can't control the outcome. Armed with ovulation kits, calendars, and pregnancy tests, she is a woman on a mission. Still, no baby. When even high-tech medical treatments don't work, Sherri takes a leap of faith and enters the world of open adoptions, where she has to learn to live with uncertainty.
Friedlander obviously knows the ins and outs of the adoption process, from the dedicated "baby phone" to meetings with stressed out birthmothers and unsympathetic lawyers. Sherri rides the emotional rollercoaster, and each time her hopes are dashed, she rises with a new optimism. Her husband, Kent, is sometimes a reluctant partner in the quest, and his character is not as fully drawn as Sherri. Readers may not be sure what Kent is really thinking. Friedlander is sensitive to all parties, compassionately showing the different situations birthmothers might be in and why they might choose adoption. She acknowledges the sorrows and joys that come from forming a family through adoption.