Hold My Girl
Two women. Two eggs. One life-altering mistake. Katherine finally has it all. She's spent her entire life striving for perfection—obsessing over her spotless home, maintaining her pristine reputation, building her perfect family—and her hard work has finally paid off. After seven difficult years of trying (and failing) to conceive, Katherine gives birth to Rose, her IVF miracle child, and at last has the one thing she's wanted most of all. But one thing isn't quite perfect. Rose's pale skin doesn't match Katherine's complexion, and an irritating doubt begins to grow in Katherine's mind. Tess never got the happy ending she wanted. She underwent IVF at the same clinic as Katherine, but after finally conceiving, Tess's daughter was stillborn. Now, nearly one year later, she's approaching rock bottom. Consumed by her grief and without hope for the future, Tess is divorced, broke, and stuck in a dead-end job beneath her skillset. But shortly before Rose's first birthday, Katherine and Tess get a call from the fertility clinic: Their eggs were switched. As Katherine's carefully planned life begins to crumble around her, Tess finally sees the glimmer of hope she needed to get her life back on track. Motherhood has always been their dream, and neither woman is prepared to share that claim over Rose. It will take a tense custody battle to decide who deserves to be Rose's mother, but it will also push them to the brink. With themes of racial identity, loss, and betrayal, Hold My Girl is an emotional novel that will leave you contemplating: What makes a mother?
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I just finished Hold my Girl by Charlene Carr and here are my thoughts.
Katherine has worked hard for everything she has. She has strived for perfection in her life and she works hard to maintain it every day. After 7 years of trying for a baby and turning to IVF, she finally has her child. A perfect daughter, Rose. Something isn't right though, a niggling doubt in her mind.... Rose has such light skin that people often think she can't be her mother.
Tess has spent her life struggling. Things have always gone horribly wrong for her and when her husband leaves her just as she is about to do IVF, she goes ahead with a sperm donor. Trouble is at 21 weeks Tess gives birth to a stillborn daughter.
Almost a year to the day they both had their treatments done, the clinic calls... Their eggs were switched before they were inseminated. Katherines whole world falls apart as Tess finally sees a silver lining. Trouble is Katherine doesn't want Tess in Rose's life and Tess isn't willing to accept that. Now a custody battle has begun and no one will really be a winner.
As a mother of 6, I nearly didn't read this book. I saw what it was about and I felt my heart lurch at the very idea. Can you imagine growing a baby inside you, birthing it to be told you aren't its mother? I'm glad I got over myself to read this one because it was really well written and clearly well researched. I don't normally bother with triggers but if miscarriage, IVF, stillbirths are hard for you, I would likely tread with caution.
From the very start I liked Tess. I get Tess. I understand Tess. Katherine, I couldn't bring myself to like her. She felt cold to me. Part of me was always rooting for Tess to win full custody but she was a total mess. Taking a child from a safe, loving, stable home to give to a woman who has serious bad habits, works a job that's beneath her and has to work a ton of overtime to get by... It wouldn't be a case I would want to preside over to be honest but a mother is still a mother and she has rights. I personally think Katherine should have been willing to have Tess in Rose's life without court help but she was having none of it. It should always be about what is best for the child and more people loving her... what's wrong with that?
This book is thought provoking and I love books that do this. I just wish I could have connected with Katherine better. She didn't become likable until the very end. I love books based in Canada too so this was a win win for me. The book had such sadness within its pages and it was quite an emotional rollercoaster for me.
4 stars thank you @bookmarked for my gifted copy
