Published: 12 Aug 2021

Author: Luke C Jackson & Kelly Jackson

Published by: Scribe

Genre: Autobiography

Length: 160 pages

Reading dates: 20-21 August 2021

Conrad and Joanne met in their final year of university and have been virtually inseparable since then. For a while, it felt like they had all the time in the world. Yet now, when they are finally ready to have kids, they find that getting pregnant isn’t always so easy.

Ahead of them lies a difficult, expensive, and emotional journey into the world of assisted fertility, where each ‘successful’ implantation is followed by a two-week wait to see if the pregnancy takes. Join Joanne and Conrad, their friends, their family, their co-workers, and a stream of expert medical practitioners as they experience the highs and the lows, the tears and the laughter in this sensitive but unflinching portrayal of the hope and heartbreak offered to so many by modern medicine.

One in fifty couples around the world undergo IVF every year and this incredible graphic novel tells the story of Conrad and Joanne as they undergo IVF. From deciding they would like to have a baby, to a year later when they realise it may not be as straight forward as they first thought. It describes the pain of undergoing fertility treatment, how the thoughts of becoming pregnant consume every waking moment, affecting their friendships and their jobs. There is much pain and hope along the way.

I loved the illustrations in this graphic novel – the flow of the pictures and the use of only a few warm colours is striking and I really liked them. What I found remarkable was how a graphic novel with so few words and pictures can pack such an emotional punch. The authors have undergone their own IVF journey ending in the birth of two daughters and I loved they shared their experience through the characters of Conrad and Joanne in this book.

Thank you so much to Scribe for my gifted copy. I’m definitely keen to read more graphic novels if anyone has any recommendations.

About the authors:

Luke Jackson
Luke C. Jackson is a teacher, and the author of novels, games, and films. He and his wife, Kelly, began their own IVF journey in 2011, and are now parents of two daughters. Two-Week Wait: an IVF story is their first novel.

Kelly Jackson
Kelly Jackson is a teacher and educational writer. She and her husband, Luke, began their own IVF journey in 2011, and are now parents of two daughters. Two-Week Wait: an IVF story is their first novel.

Websites: http://www.lukecjackson.com/

About the Illustrator:

Mara Wild
Mara Wild lives and works in Hamburg, Germany, as a freelance illustrator and animator, mostly doing multimedia artwork. She met Luke while studying abroad in Melbourne, taking one of his classes.