This Will All Be Worth It: Adventures in Queer Babymaking

An in-depth examination of everything it takes to get pregnant, give birth, and raise a child in a same-sex relationship, from a presidential speechwriter and proud lesbian mom

When political speechwriter Lauren Peterson and her wife, Liz, decided to have a baby with the help of a close male friend, they were not prepared for how medically invasive, emotionally draining, and politically perilous their path to parenthood would be.

There were the ridiculous moments Lauren and Liz never expected—transporting their donor’s sperm to a clinic via Lyft or Liz having to undergo genetic screening, even though she was not the one trying to get pregnant. And then there were the rage-inducing moments from mandatory psychiatric evaluations and laws banning gay sperm donors to a Supreme Court that had taken aim at LGBTQ rights and raised doubt about the legality of procedures like IVF.

Now they’re proud moms of two beautiful babies, but in the moment they were constantly asking themselves: Will this even be worth all this trouble?

This Will All Be Worth It weaves personal stories with interviews from doctors, legal experts, and policymakers to examine the ways that the LGBTQ’s approach to issues of community and gender can offer insights and solutions to these challenges. This Will All Be Worth It serves as both a candid, reassuring guide, as well as a love letter to unconventional families that has never felt more urgent.