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When 45-year-old Mari Sarkisian Wyatt, a freelance copy editor, decided to have a third child, she had no idea what she was getting into—except that a woman her age had a success rate of less than 5% without help.
When Mari Wyatt’s first child was born in 1988, she had never heard of autism. But when her son was diagnosed at age three, she recognized that her older brother had probably been on the spectrum, too. After her daughter was born, Mari wanted to spare her second child from the fate that she’d endured growing up with only one troubled sibling. Her solution was to have a third child. What started as a modest attempt to conceive through IVF soon became an all-consuming, often heartbreaking quest, but with a surprise ending she never saw coming.
“Raw, painful, and deeply humane, Wyatt’s account lays bare the emotional toll of motherhood pursued against major odds. It’s both bruising and beautiful.” —Publishers Weekly
"Raw, terrifying and tender, this memoir is as much a love letter to the maternal experience as it is a testament to one woman’s determination to chase a dream deep into the realm of obsession. A gripping account about one woman’s no-holds barred pursuit of motherhood."—Kirkus Reviews
“Mari Sarkisian Wyatt’s sharply observant eye, her ear for dialogue, and her utter lack of self-pity are all to be truly admired. As a reader, one can’t help but feel wholly sympathetic to the narrator as she navigates one challenge after another… Although this is a deeply affecting story of an unconventional family and the horrors they must endure, at times it also proves to be darkly funny. Saving the Fourth Generation is, without a doubt, an unforgettable memoir.”
—Marian Thurm, author of I Don’t Know How To Tell You This