I am so excited to announce and introduce you to an amazing new book, just released today! It is called Positively Negative: Love, Pregnancy, and Science's Surprising Victory Over HIV.
Heather Boerner, the book's author contacted me way back when, to ask if we'd be willing to tell her our story...how we met, fell in love, journey to conception, pregnancy, and finally a baby. It was the first time I had told the story to anyone from start to finish. It brought up many memories and emotions, but mostly it brought up a deep sense of satisfaction. Satisfaction that I believed in this love, believed in the hope for a baby of our own, and believed in people like Heather-who continued the fight when I could not and carried the message when my strength wavered.
As I read the book today, I re-lived the journey...this time with my darling baby girl toddling around, finding entertainment with a cardboard box and her favorite doll in the red dress...
And when she pressed her baby soft and honey sweet cheek to mine, and looked into my eyes with her long eyelashes fluttering so...I wept. I wept because Heather captured the emotions of the journey so beautifully in her book, and so graciously described our little Pom-Pom, and so eloquently intertwined human emotions and storytelling with medical facts and scientific jargon.
I feared admitting to you all that we're one of the couples featured in the book because some of the details take away from my anonymous-ness...but I feel okay about that. I'm grateful that Heather allowed us to tell our story anonymously. Its a real sacrifice to the integrity of a story when three of the main characters are faceless and nameless, but she never pushed and never judged. And...I find strength in that. Strength to let you all in a little bit more.
To keep this conversation going join the Twitter Chat Book Launch Party on July 19th at 1:30 PST. I'll be tweeting along with you all...just follow #HIVLoveWins.
Also, next weekend on CNN, Sanjay Gupta features the Hartmanns, the other couple in the book! Will let you know more details as I get them.
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