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Peggy Orenstein
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Waiting for Daisy: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, an Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night, and One Woman's Quest to Become a Mother Paperback – December 26, 2007

by Peggy Orenstein (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 158 ratings
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"Dazzling…the platinum standard for memoirs regarding couples struggling to become parents."―Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Peggy Orenstein's widely hailed and bestselling memoir of her quest for parenthood begins when she tells her new husband that she's not sure she ever wants to be a mother; it ends six years later after she's done almost everything humanly possible to achieve that goal. Buffeted by one obstacle after another, Orenstein seeks answers both medical and spiritual in America and Asia, all the while trying to hold on to a marriage threatened by cycles, appointments, procedures, and disappointments. Waiting for Daisy is both an intimate page-turner and a wrly funny report from the front.

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  1. Print length
    228 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bloomsbury USA
  4. Publication date
    December 26, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    5.86 x 0.66 x 7.83 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1596912103
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1596912106
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Suspenseful [and] unsparing…Orenstein's interrogation of her own profiteering pregnancy retinue comes across as a welcome, even necessary exposé.” ―New York Times Book Review

“Orenstein's memoir is not just hers; it is the story of a generation of women who dared to wait for motherhood, took risks to achieve it and were brave enough to question their decisions every step of the way.” ―More

“Just when you think there is no more to say about the comedy and tragedy of infertility, Peggy Orenstein comes along and changes your mind…Daisy is a fine meditation on what it means to live a fulfilled life.” ―People

“Riveting...It's no small feat to write a page turner that gives away the ending on the dust jacket, but Waiting for Daisy is more than just the Perils of Peggy. Orenstein has written a memoir, a confession, a polemic and a love story all at once.” ―Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Peggy Orenstein is the author of Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self- Esteem, and the Confidence Gap and Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World. A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, she has also written for the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Elle, Vogue, Parenting, Discover, More, Mother Jones, Salon, and the New Yorker. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Steven Okazaki, and their daughter, Daisy.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; First Edition (December 26, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1596912103
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1596912106
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.86 x 0.66 x 7.83 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 158 ratings

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  1. Peggy Orenstein

    Peggy Orenstein

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    Peggy Orenstein is the author of the New York Times best-sellers Boys & Sex, Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy as well as Unraveling, Don’t Call Me Princess, Flux, and the classic SchoolGirls. A frequent contributor to The New York Times and a contributing writer for AFAR, Peggy has also written for such publications as The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, New York, The Atlantic and The New Yorker, and has contributed commentaries to NPR’s All Things Considered and The PBS News Hour. She has been featured on, among other programs, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Morning Joe, and NPR’s Fresh Air. Her TED Talk, “What Young Women Believe About Their Own Sexual Pleasure,” has been viewed over six million times.

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    Peggy Orenstein

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
158 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the theme inspirational and therapeutic. They also praise the writing style as well-written and find the humor funny, interesting, and refreshing. Opinions are mixed on the tone, with some finding it interesting and refreshing, while others say it's depressing and overwhelming.

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ThemeWriting styleHumorTone
5 customers mention "Theme"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the theme inspirational, therapeutic, and a great personal account of her struggle and success.

"...She liked it and said it was helpful to hear of others experiences." Read more

"...In this wry, intensely personal, beautifully told tale, she presents us with a cautionary tale of modern life that can be summed up as "Don't put..." Read more

"...A nice read, and an inspiring one at that." Read more

"...this was a great personal account of her struggle and then success." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing style"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style well written and appreciate the author's honesty. They also like the author’s voice.

"...Thank you Peggy for this well written..." Read more

"...It did make me laugh many times, and the writing itself is excellent...." Read more

"This book is exquisitely written from an infertility standpoint...." Read more

"...kids without IVF (3 after 35, and 1 at 43, 1 at 45) the author was very relatable and brutally funny. Oh, and I cried." Read more

4 customers mention "Humor"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book funny, interesting, and refreshing.

"...And a fast read. Orenstein is funny. She's extremely candid about her fertility treatments, both conventional and alternative...." Read more

"I thought I was going to love this book. It did make me laugh many times, and the writing itself is excellent...." Read more

"...the author was very relatable and brutally funny. Oh, and I cried." Read more

"...An amazing story, told with a sense of humor and a lot of honesty.. I loved this book!" Read more

7 customers mention "Tone"4 positive3 negative

Customers are mixed about the tone. Some find the book funny, interesting, and refreshing, with many twists and turns. They also say it's an amazing story, told with a sense of humor and honesty. However, others say the experiences are depressing and overwhelming, with unrealistic expectations. They say the book contains an inexplicable happy ending.

"...It has so many twists and turns and moments when you find yourself holding your breath as you read along!..." Read more

"...And this book contains a wierd, inexplicable happy ending of her being able to conceive and successfully carry the baby to term ... out of the blue...." Read more

"...An amazing story, told with a sense of humor and a lot of honesty.. I loved this book!" Read more

"...never been on her journey, each page was a new piece of a very intriguing puzzle. A tear jerker with lots to offer any woman." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Martha May
5.0 out of 5 stars Waiting indeed!
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2007
Verified Purchase
I could have written this book. I SHOULD have written this book! But reading it was almost as good. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I recognized many of the players Peggy Orenstein encountered on her quest for fertility. As I sit here drinking mud-flavored Chinese herbs, trying not to get stressed because I am stressed that I cannot get pregnant, injecting myself with horrible concoctions to boost my hormones that have caused me to put on 15 pounds in the last 6 months, let's just say I can RELATE! This fertility stuff is NOT FUN and yet reading Peggy's book made me laugh so hard I cried. A kindered spirit! Someone else who has been there and survived! And been through worse than I could imagine. I tried reading it to my husband, hoping he would join in my glee at looking in the mirror and laughing at myself. Since his words were almost identitical to Peggy's husbands (why do we ALWAYS have to do it in the missionary position? Why can't I take a hot bath?) he could not even hear the words, they so hit the mark. Thank you Peggy for this well written (more than just a fertility book it also covers the Atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima and the beauracracy of adoption side by side with the feminist angst and ambilivence of wanting to be a mother and a career woman and a free spirit in today's society) and humorous glimpse into your life and the lives of so many of us 40 somethings who find ourselves wondering how did life go by so fast that the window of mother hood has almost slammed shut!?
7 people found this helpful
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33 year old lawyer
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, interesting, and a unique, refreshing infertility story
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2007
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First, I liked this book because it was entertaining. And a fast read. Orenstein is funny. She's extremely candid about her fertility treatments, both conventional and alternative. One of the things I liked MOST in the book is that she seeks out alternative medicine...and it FAILS. I get so tired of these inspirational, "I became a vegan and took acupuncture and all of a sudden...I was pregnant. Yippee!" In fact, Orenstein's acupuncturist basically dumps her when she can't get pregnant after a long time! LOL! She also even goes so far as to get donor eggs from a young woman whom she had befriended, who was an admirer of her earlier books. She feels guilty about asking this young woman to do it....but the guilt doesn't stop her. And the IVF with the 21 year old donor's eggs fails, too. She does conventional IVF, too, which ultimately fails..and writes about how shoddily her case was handled at IVF clinics, where the doctors seem more concerned with a fast profit than with long term success for their patients. Oh, and she had cancer, too, right before her infertility started. Frankly, I am surprised anyone encouraged her to go on all these fertility drugs and to get pregnant in light of that risk factor. But she goes for it anyway. So, Orenstein pretty much experiences it all...and watches everything.. . FAIL. She is also very frank about her fights with her husband, which seem serious.

One reviewer said the book is really negative, and whining. I don't agree with that. I think Orenstein is funny, and a survivor. She's an example of the kind of person who can take the hit and keep going back to the drawing board. I would think people struggling with fertility would actually empathize and enjoy reading this book. On the other hand, since Orenstein did have bad experiences with most of the things she tried, if people want to keep on rose colored glasses about their chances for any particular procedure, then yeah, Orenstein's recounting of her negative ones isn't going to give them any cheer....

The one potentially frustrating thing is that clearly this book is going to appeal to women who are having fertility issues. And this book contains a wierd, inexplicable happy ending of her being able to conceive and successfully carry the baby to term ... out of the blue. (Her main issue wasn't conceiving, but with experiencing constant miscarriage). On one hand, it's a good lesson that our bodies can sometimes do that sort of stuff...but if you are looking for commiseration in infertility, this sort of pat, inexplicable, Hollywood type ending, "And when I least expected it, I got pregnant!!!" may be exactly what you do NOT feel like hearing right now.... For stories of women who had infertility that did NOT resolve, then I would suggest Ann Taylor Fleming's "Motherhood Deferred" or Liz Tilberis' "No Time to Die." She also seems to want a biological child so strongly that she basically seems to intentionally avoid an adoption that almost falls into her lap. If you have adopted kids, or think you would like to adopt, you might find yourself disliking Orenstein or being amazed at her behavior regarding this...
16 people found this helpful
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Annie
5.0 out of 5 stars Changed the way I think about motherhood
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2023
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When I was in college I had a Peggy orenstein summer. As someone who never wanted children when I was young, this book really opened my eyes to the experience from the other side of people/women who do want kids and struggle to conceive. I never realized how difficult that can be and how taxing it can be on their mental/physical health and relationships. I learned a lot and it helped me become more empathetic to people whose struggles I may not necessarily relate to.
One person found this helpful
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NYCRed
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2011
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I am so grateful to Peggy Orenstein for writing this book. It's the first memoir about infertility I've read that truly captured my experience. Orenstein's humor and unsparing honesty made me feel like someone out there got me--and got how utterly crazy infertility can make an otherwise intelligent and competent woman. The obsessiveness, the hopelessness, the damage to one's marriage and self-esteem, the constant "what if's," the conviction that we've done everything wrong--she gets it. What's more, she can chronicle it in such a way that you're laughing out loud. I've read this book twice now, and each time it brings comfort and makes me smile. I'm sure I'll read it again before my infertility journey is over. A great book.
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katharin grimes
5.0 out of 5 stars She liked it and said it was helpful to hear of ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2017
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I bought this for a friend going through IVF. She liked it and said it was helpful to hear of others experiences.
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Melissa
3.0 out of 5 stars I'm So Annoyed! Warning: Spoiler Included
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2007
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I read this book for several nights feeling as if I'd lived so much of this woman's experiences through infertility. So grateful it wasn't one of THOSE stories where after all the hell of IF treatments the couple gives up, goes on vacation and returns home to find out a few weeks later they are pregnant after that miraculous vaction. But, unfortunately, that's exactly what happens. Unfortunately, it makes everything positive about the book fade for me.

Sorely disappointed...
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

jasperoo
5.0 out of 5 stars Honest, painful but still uplifting.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2016
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This is the story of how a couple eventually became parents. It is heartfelt and totally honest. To be recommended.
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Danielle Logan
4.0 out of 5 stars I'd recommend it for the simple fact that we crazy infertility ladies need to know we're not alone out there!
Reviewed in Canada on September 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
There were some very powerful, relatable thoughts and feelings shared by Peggy that made me feel more accepting of my own struggles with infertility. Her writing is very easy to follow and I finished the book in less than a week.
The only reason it's not a 5/5 for me is completely personal, but I would have loved for her to share some guidelines or tips for coping with infertility. However, this book was written as her own bit of history, so it's still completely enjoyable.
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