Exploring the different ways families come to be
From the Start: A Book About Love and Making Families is an inclusive and heartfelt love letter to adopted children and children born through the help of fertility treatments such as IVF, sperm and egg donation, or surrogacy. Through age-appropriate language and sweet rhyming prose, authors Stephanie Levich and Alana Weiss weave together themes of hope and gratitude to highlight the special roles fertility doctors, donors, surrogates, and adoption play in helping hopeful parents start or grow their families.
Alana Weiss and Stephanie Levich have been best friends since they were teenagers and are both mothers as a result of in-vitro fertilization. They have always been open about their fertility challenges and feel deeply grateful for their children and the extraordinary way they were conceived. In addition to being a mom through assisted reproductive technology, Stephanie is the founder of Family Match Consulting, an internationally renowned fertility consulting firm based in Los Angeles that specializes in egg/ sperm donation and surrogacy. She is also an adoptee.
Because of Stephanie’s personal background and decades long experience in the field, parents often ask for her guidance when talking with their children about their conception and birth stories. Stephanie’s parents introduced her to her adoption story before she could understand the word itself, framing it as a celebration of love and family. Those early conversations shaped her understanding of how she came into this world in a healthy and positive way. Stephanie and Alana hope that From the Start will help other parents do the same.
Darren Gate is a children’s illustrator based in Glasgow, Scotland. Darren has illustrated for picture books, chapter books, educational resources, and magazines. His passion for drawing started when he was much younger as he ran around his grandparents’ garden drawing slugs, snails, and other insects. Since then, Darren has found a passion for drawing people, children, and animals.
