I've often wondered how many precious minutes of my life have been lost while I was locked in the privacy of my bathroom, warming a small strip of Sally Hanson wax with my 1800 watt hairdryer, preparing to coif my seemingly uncoiffable bikini region. I usually wonder this as I'm chugging a vodka tonic, doing deep breathing exercises, and enjoying those last few peaceful seconds before I pull the strip off.

You probably know the rest of the story because it might have happened to you once or twice. The strip comes off with four measly hairs, the wax gets caught … Read More

Part four of a four-part series on male infertility. Click here to read parts one, two and three.

For me and Amy, however, there was always more hope, always another chance to get pregnant. The next peak in the Fertility Himalayas, ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), was a technique developed in 1992 for severe cases of male infertility in which healthy looking single sperms are literally inserted into healthy seeming eggs. The goal is multiple fertilizations. The fertilized eggs can then be frozen and preserved, or returned to the womb to (hopefully) develop.

ICSI took place in a private hospital. … Read More

Part three of a four-part series on male infertility. Click here to read parts one, two and four. 

Amy had been referred to a Beverly Hills fertility doctor, who was so reassuring that I took him to calling him Dr. Mellow. His office had a wall of photos of smiling babies, as if to say, "This will be you."  

We sat in his waiting room holding hands. We believed. We didn't know we had just taken our seats inside the Hope Factory.

Once inside, the possibility of getting pregnant never ended. If one technique failed, you tried another, and … Read More

Part two of a four-part series on male infertility. Click here to read parts one, three and four.   

Right around this time, my Amy and I decided to move to California. Perhaps a fresh start, a fresh perspective would help. 

My wife's doctor in NY sent her to a doctor in Beverly Hills, who sent her to a fertility specialist, who sent me a doctor whose first name sounded a lot like "Pappy." He was the doctor to see for guys whose guys need to get going. 

Pappy had a slightly goofy personality. … Read More

Part one of a four-part series on male infertility. Click here to read parts two, three and four.   

When I look back on the courtship that led to my marriage, I fast forward through a carousel of emotionally charged moments: the night we met, the night we first slept together (not the same), a postcard she sent me, our first weekend away together, a Ray Charles concert, a birthday party (mine), a birthday party (hers), a Hamptons summer rental, a Sam Cooke album, an Al Green concert, a vacation in Europe where I almost proposed but didn't, … Read More

By Gail Sheehy

Yesterday my husband walked into our day-old home, a condo furnished with hundreds of boxes from our former house, and he didn’t smile. Moving isn’t easy. We had pulled up stakes from a place we loved. Our roots were still raw.

Clay Felker and I have been through many moves. Painful as they were, some of them saved our relationship. One may have saved his life. This year we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, a milestone that amazes friends who had to play Rolodex tag with each of us during the 17 years of our … Read More