From the book description: "In the winter of 2002, Jenny Minton delivered twin boys. She was thirty-one weeks pregnant, and her boys, conceived through in vitro fertilization, were more than two months early. Both boys were placed on immediate life support, and for sixty-four days they hovered, critically ill, in the neonatal intensive care unit of a New York City hospital. The Early Birds is a record of their time there and the story of Minton’s harrowing, triumphant quest to bring her sons home."

It's a well written story of the ups and downs of fertility treatments and premature birth. (I've been there having given birth to a 33-weeker and a 36-weeker.) However, it doesn't go far enough. Jenny wonders if fertility treatments give rise to premature births and possible birth effects, but never nails down the evidence or only gives a glimpse of a few studies on this subject.

Honestly, this book needs a follow up in about 10 years. Did the fertility treatments result in a risky birth? Was the babies' prematurity cause for any worry down the road? If a child is conceived through "artificial" means, does this affect their intelligence, development and health? Jenny needs to take this story farther.

Jenny Minton's twin sons, conceived via in vitro, were born prematurely and spent nearly three months in the NICU. Minton recounts--honestly and fluidly--what this time was like for her and how her experiences caused her to question the culture of infertility and wide availability of fertility treatments.

I suspect that this book will resonate most strongly with women who share Minton's experiences of infertility and prematurity; I also suspect that Minton's honesty about her priviledged social position will irk some readers. But as a reader who identifies with all of those things, I found this to be a compelling read (which is code for Jenny Minton made me cry).