Recommending A Book

I love watching movies based on true stories. I especially love when at the end of the movie they show pictures of the real people. I also like to read books about real people with unusual or interesting life stories. It’s an added bonus if I have ever met the person, or know of the person.

I recently read such a book. It’s by Corinne Smelker, Cori, and title is Answering Hannah’s Cry. I met Cori last year at a FaithWriters’ Conference in Portland, Oregon. She was teaching a workshop. I was immediately intrigued when as part of her introduction, she said she was the mother of five biological children, but she’d given birth to six others as a surrogate.

Having had five children of my own, surrogacy always was a little mind blowing to me. I assumed most women did it purely for the money. Labor and delivery weren’t the part of childbirth I didn’t like, it was the pregnancy. For me, the only way I would endure for someone else the violent morning sickness I always had, and the discomfort of pregnancy was if I was paid some seriously big money.

Cori’s book was an eye-opener. I’m sure the money helped, but she just wanted to bless others who longed for a child of their own, and for whatever reason, it didn’t or couldn’t happen. Cori did gestational surrogacy only, where it’s the mother’s eggs and father’s sperm.

This book, and the characters included, came alive for me through Cori's descriptions. I felt like I was right there in the examining room, in labor and delivery. It’s a beautiful, touching story that focuses not only on the minute details of what Cori went through, but the love and support of her husband and children. If this sounds like a story that would interest you, you will definitely enjoy Cori’s book.