Catalogue Baby

A bracingly candid, fearless, and funny look at the misconceptions of conception and the emotional rollercoaster of fertility. Myriam Steinberg has turned her journey of heartbreak and healing into something wonderfully alive.
—Elan Mastai, writer/producer of This Is Us and author of All Our Wrong Todays

This book is a true gift to anyone on a journey to parenthood through IVF/IUI. It is an experience most can't truly grasp unless they've been through it themselves, but seeing it through Myriam's eyes gives us a beautiful and raw glimpse of the reality of the ups and downs and relentless grief that rings true for so many. It will speak to so many still trying and in the midst of this painful journey. Myriam shows how much support we need along the way and how it's healthy to feel frustration, jealousy and hope all at once. Catalogue Baby helps normalize the conversation around infertility and the stigma attached to this topic.
—Chiemi Rajamahendran, Founder, Miss.Conception Coach

“Catalogue Baby is intimate, devastating, surprisingly funny, and utterly original. Page after page, I marvelled at Myriam Steinberg's no-holds-barred look at how infertility turns lives upside down, beautifully matched by illustrator Christache's gift for capturing emotions too raw for words. You don't need to be in baby-making mode to be moved by Steinberg's heart-breaking road to motherhood. But this book, above all, is a celebration of biology, and the enduring love of family and friends. Bravo.”
—Adriana Barton, journalist and author



From Art Spiegelman’s Maus to Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire’s Secret Path, the graphic novel has been proven time and again to be a powerful artform for relating difficult, sometimes harrowing, stories. But even given the genre’s rich history, there is something utterly new about ... Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of (In)fertility.... At once a personal account of one woman’s five-year struggle to become a single mother by choice and a bold confrontation of the taboos surrounding female infertility…. All the while, the book weaves in moments of levity and humour, and is threaded throughout with gratitude for the healing power of friendship, family, and community…. It’s raw stuff, but anyone who has experienced the grief of losing a wanted pregnancy or supported someone through the experience will recognize something of their own story in Steinberg’s—which is precisely the point.
—Stir

Steinberg’s refreshing openness on a topic that is often spoken about in whispers, if at all, is most welcome. And her voice is amplified by the colour-bursting, energetic and imaginative illustrations by Christache Ross, which take readers right close up into the physical and emotional upheaval and turmoil that Steinberg has lived.
—Jewish Independent

The subjects of Catalogue Baby—infertility, miscarriage, donor conception—are all taboo, and it’s wonderful to see these topics being brought out into the open in this format. Myriam’s honest words, together with the emotionally raw graphics, will undoubtedly get the message across as to just how hard the journey to parenthood is for some people. Catalogue Baby is a real labour of love..
—>—Sheila Lamb, Author of the This is... fertility series of books including True tales of infertility, IVF and pregnancy loss; and My Fertility Book—all the fertility and infertility explanations you will ever need, from A to Z

With directness and ample doses of humor and gratitude, Steinberg’s graphic debut charts her four-year effort to become a mother.... For all her heart-wrenching experiences, Steinberg never loses sight of her privilege, and presents community as an antidote to silence and grief (eventually giving birth to healthy twins helps, too). Christache’s sprightly illustrations enliven the technical medical details with chatty sperm and eggs. Steinberg’s solo-mother-by-choice perspective and accessible, well-paced graphic storytelling brings a fresh angle to the pregnancy memoir canon..
—Publishers Weekly

Powerful…. Not only is the book a deep dive into the emotional chaos that comes with trying to conceive when it isn’t a simple process, it is also full of illuminating slices of humour…. Graphic novels are well known for tackling a wide-range of topics and presenting them in ways that convey the subject’s emotional experience in image and script. Catalogue Baby certainly succeeds, with frame after frame putting Steinberg’s life on the page. Christache’s capturing of the experiences...is perfect.
—Vancouver Sun