Letters to an Embryo

by Jasna Kaludjerovic, Alice Copple-Tosic (Translator)

Overview

A true story.

 A broken marriage.

    A frozen embryo.

And one impossible decision:

SHOULD IT not LIVE?
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Letters to an Embryo is an autobiographical novel that explores the deeply personal journey of Jasna Kaludjerovic as she grapples with the aftermath of a painful divorce. Left with a frozen embryo from the final IVF attempt, she feels torn between the responsibility of giving it a chance to live and the emotional weight of her past.

Over the course of many letters, Jasna writes to the embryo, reflecting on motherhood, identity, and the complexities of letting go.

The novel touches on themes of loss, hope, and the quiet resilience of the human spirit, offering readers an intimate exploration of one woman’s emotional and psychological struggle. With honesty and vulnerability, Kaludjerovic invites readers to walk with her through a personal crisis that many can relate to, yet few are willing to speak about.

Does it have the right to life?

How will it fit with her new role now?

What does it take to make a decision?

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⚠️ Content Warning:

This memoir includes themes of infertility, IVF, divorce, emotional distress, and ethical dilemmas surrounding reproductive choices.

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Editorial Reviews

"Raises intriguing, morally complex, and timely issues."
- Kirkus Reviews
 
"About divorce, loneliness, and healing after betrayal, Letters to an Embryo is an intimate memoir. "
- Foreword Clarion Reviews
"Jasna Kaludjerovic's vulnerable memoir is about processing the dissolution of her marriage through letters to their last frozen embryo."
- Foreword Clarion Reviews
 
"The letters spend significant time on the role of women in society and how she now sees her own place in the world. She had always wanted to be a mother, but now she is wrestling with who she is."
-BlueInk Review
"In this sweet, poignant memoir, Jasna Kaludjerovic writes to her last viable frozen embryo, deciding whether to go ahead with a pregnancy when she and her husband—the embryo's 'papa' - are divorcing. She mourns the demise of her marriage but seizes on her newfound freedom to find a new man and craft a new career."
- BlueInk Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788690766222
Publisher:	PublishDrive
Publication date:	04/07/2025
Sold by:	PUBLISHDRIVE KFT
Format:	eBook
Pages:	350
File size:	4 MB

Editorial Reviews

2025-07-24
Kaludjerovic offers a nonfiction contemplation of motherhood, translated by Copple-Tošić and framed as a series of letters to a frozen embryo.

In this debut memoir, first published in the Serbian language in 2024, the author, an IT professional and entrepreneur, presents a meditation on what happens when a couple creates a frozen embryo through IVF and then divorces. Her book is a personal reflection, told in a long series of missives to the embryo, written over several years: “A long time has passed since I last wrote a letter. There’s something really nice about it. It’s too bad you’ll probably never have the chance to write a real letter. By the time you’re born, they’ll have disappeared. That is, if you’re ever born.” In the letters, the author discusses her ambivalence regarding motherhood and her attempts to figure out her priorities in life. The narrative, which involves many accounts of travels and her love life, reflects a life of freedom and privilege, but also deals with hard choices about what to give up and when; specifically, she addresses how a frozen embryo opens up the possibility of controlling the scheduling of parenthood, but how it also may not result in a successful pregnancy. Overall, Kaludjerovic’s book raises some intriguing, morally complex, and timely issues. However, the lack of reflection on sociopolitical considerations regarding her decisions may make this book less relatable to American readers. The issue of unimplanted IVF embryos is particularly fraught in the United States, as recent court cases have sought to restrict the choices that the author, as a non-American, enjoys; as a result, the book may be most salient to European readers. Also, some of the author’s musings become repetitive after a while, which might have been improved with a stronger edit.

An intriguing, if unevenly executed, meditation on life choices.

Kirkus Reviews