Where Do Children Come From?

Newborn kittens can crawl, orcas can swim, elephant calves can walk. A human infant is born unadapted and requires enormous resources in the first year of life.

Raising a healthy and happy person—while not sacrificing a career, well-being, or mental balance—is colossal work, despite the achievements of medicine and the increase in the standard of living. As a result, many decide not to have children at all: everything is complicated, and there are almost 8 billion of us on the planet anyway.

Scientific journalist, science popularizer, and young mother Asya Kazantseva would be very surprised if told five years ago that she would want a child so soon. This is her book, the fourth in sequence, is special: in it, the author, as always, professionally and engagingly tells about recent research in embryology, neonatology, and in vitro fertilization; about real and mythical risks for mother and fetus; about the possibilities and limitations of modern medicine. But that's not all. It's also a personal story about the most important decision in life and the beginning of great love.