And Baby Makes Two
By Judy Sheehan
Ballantine Books
Reviewed by Karen Morse
Jane Howe is a thirty-seven-year-old single woman living in New York
City. She has what some would call a perfect life: a satisfying and
well-paying job, a great apartment in Greenwich Village, good friends,
and family close enough to visit, but not close enough to be involved
in her daily life.
One day, on her way to the gym, Jane realizes exactly what is missing
in her life… not a man, but a baby. Her biological clock starts
ticking. From stumbling across a reference to a group called Choosing
Single Motherhood to seeking advice from a friendly limo driver, AND
BABY MAKES TWO is the story of Jane's journey to single parenthood.
To some extent, Jane is a typical chick lit heroine: single and
self-involved, looking for something more from her life. While Sheehan
does lay the groundwork for Jane to be a more full-bodied character,
she seems to fail in the execution.
While Jane is supposed to be making the most important decision of her
life, it never really seems like she's consciously making a decision.
Jane doesn't choose to adopt from China after thoroughly investigating
international adoption and the various options available to her.
Someone else adopts a baby from China and it just seems right to her --
so, China it is. Yes, she faces roadblocks -- a traditional
father who disapproves of her becoming a single parent, a demotion at
work, delayed paperwork -- but these things end up seeming like minor
hiccups in the great scheme of things. Jane's biggest problem really
has nothing to do with the adoption, it has to do with a love interest,
a married love interest.
Early in the narrative readers learn the reason for Jane's
childlessness and her single status: the love of her life died of Lou
Gehrigs Disease. Throughout the novel, however, this relationship is
mentioned only in passing, a part of Jane's back-story that has
relatively little bearing on her current life. Jane's mother seems more
affected by Jane's younger sister Sheila eloping than Jane is by the
death of her fiancé. To anyone who suffered a significant loss,
this is incongruous.
Apart from Jane's love interest Peter (who is horribly indecisive, but
a very realistic character because of that), AND BABY MAKES TWO has a
wide variety of strong supporting characters. There's Ray, Jane's gay
best friend and "hubstitute," who despite being a stock character is
probably one of the most sympathetic characters in the book; Sheila, a
scattered stepmom who was disowned after the incident mentioned above;
the Chinamoms, a support group of women adopting babies from China; and
a mother-figure in the head of Jane's adoption agency, who turns out to
be her former professor (the same one in whose class she mether
fiancé).
Despite this reader's reservations, there is no doubt that this book
will be well received by fans of chick lit. It is a quick, endearing
read that will pull on the heart-strings of many a woman --
particularly those considering adoption.
Judy Sheehan is an actress and playwright who adopted a baby from China
in 2000. AND BABY MAKES TWO is her first novel. Her second novel, WOMEN
IN HATS will be published in Spring 2008.
The new paperback edition includes a section on adoption resources
which is a bit sparse (listing only three books, two magazines, and
three websites). This reader wishes that the author and publisher had
put in the effort to make that section a real resource for women and
couples considering adoption.