The hollow heart - Martina Devlin

The true story of one woman's desire to give life and how it almost destroyed her own

In three attempts at in-vitro fertilization Martina Devlin lost nine embryos. Or nine ‘maybe babies’ as she thought of them. But she also lost her marriage and her dreams of becoming a mother.

The Hollow Heart is the story of Martina’s journey from early bewilderment at being diagnosed as infertile, through the traumatic and demanding process of IVF, to the shattering fall-out when it failed and she realized that not only would she never have children, but that somewhere along the way her relationship with her husband had been damaged beyond repair.

But Martina also describes how her despair eventually faded, and how she made a new life for herself and learned to take pleasure in her extended family of nieces and nephews. Most of all, The Hollow Heart is the story of a woman learning to do as her mother always advised – to count her blessings.