An empty lap

In her late thirties, journalist Jill Smolowe was realizing the life she had always envisioned for herself. Her career at a national magazine was on track. Her husband, Joe, was still her most trusted confidante and best friend. And now that she and Joe had decided finally to have a child, Jill assumed the pregnancy that had come so easily to all the women in her family would be her own next chapter. But nature had a different script in mind. Instead of decorating the nursery, Jill was soon racing to appointments with a vial of Joe's sperm in hand: instead of losing her waistline, she was…