Questions about the challenges and ethical implications associated with bringing new life into a world torn by dissension and climate change have haunted prospective parents for decades. So have entreaties to practice responsible family planning, especially in the face of dwindling resources and population growth. This balanced and empathetic offering comes from Kallman and Ferorelli, cofounders of the Conceivable Future organization, a grassroots movement devoted to giving people, especially women, a platform to share their stories. Their thoughtful and engaging narrative addresses multiple facets of emotional, social, economic, and political concerns (cultural expectations, adoption, reproductive activism), with helpful navigational features (self-checklists, flowcharts, step-by-step action guides) and numerous quotes and anecdotes from specialists, commentators, and individuals seeking answers. Distinctive threads run throughout: there are no such things as right or wrong answers; everyone has the right to make judgment-free choices, and everyone has the capability to change the future. The concluding chapters ("The Big No"; "The Big Yes") pull everything together, and multiple resources cited throughout the book combine with detailed chapter notes and a lengthy bibliography to offer readers considerable assistance. This reassuring consideration of a deeply personal matter teams seamlessly with a reasoned, emphatic call to action.

Booklist, Starred Review

Kallman and Ferorelli provide a compelling and compassionate framework for working through seemingly insoluble dilemmas, beginning with the decision to have a child, but not ending there. The book ends with a commonsense guide on how to make change happen.

Amitav Ghosh, author of The Nutmeg's Curse; Parables for a Planet in Crisis

I know so many young people trying to figure out what a burning world means for their most important choices--they email me often, to ask if they should have kids. Now I'll be able to send them this wonderful book, which manages to be both shrewd and kind; it understands on the deepest level that when we think of the world only as a series of individual decisions, those decisions become overwhelming, and that the only alternative is to build joyful and humane societies that work for all of us, including those who haven't gotten here yet!

Bill McKibben, Founder of Third Act and author of The Flag, The Cross and The Station Wagon

This is a book full of feeling as much as politics; a rigorous, compassionate and empowering companion which holds its readers close while navigating the hardest of questions.

Brett Story, filmmaker, The Hottest August (2019)

Brilliant, wise, and humane, TheConceivable Future is a fierce declaration of love for the world our children will live in. If the question "What can I do?" makes you feel lost in the weeds, this book will plant a garden in your mind.

Jonathan Meiburg, author of A Most Remarkable Creature

This book is like finding a friend when you are lost in a wilderness of despair and disinformation. With compassion, radical honesty, and humor, Kallman and Ferorelli guide us through one of the most heart-wrenching and necessary questions of our time: should we bring children into a world destabilized by climate crisis? Instead of offering simple answers, the authors help us navigate uncertainty and find the collective will to change what’s possible for the families we choose and the communities we embrace.

Madeline Ostrander, author of At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth