A Wigan mum's pioneering and campaigning children's book explaining egg donation is finally to be published - on Mother's Day
A Wigan mum whose daughter was conceived through egg donation will finally launch a very special book on the subject later this month.
Lisa Lundie is a professional drama teacher, storyteller and founder of Next STAGE Performing Arts in the North West.
But now the 48-year-old has branched out into becoming a children’s author too, inspired by the worries she felt about having one day to explain to daughter Gabrielle, now four, how she came into the world.
The Most Precious Gift features a chicken who can’t lay eggs and so another kind hen gifts one of hers. It is hoped that this can be used not only by parents in Wigan who find themselves in these circumstances but all over the country or even the world.
And Lisa hopes it will also be a catalyst for political change. Last year a motion was put to Wigan Council calling for “enhanced and ongoing support for families undergoing the egg donation process” from the Government and now it is hoped that Makerfield MP Josh Simons, with whom Lisa and Coun Chris Ready have met over the subject, will take this forward to Parliament.
The book will be launched – appropriately – on Mother’s Day (Sunday March 15) with an even running from 10am to 3pm in the Courtyard at Haigh Woodland Park.
Lisa will be there to sign and sell books – an initial run of 2,500 have been made with the option to print to order thereafter – as well as entertain the crowds with her puppets. Illustrator Sarah Brennan will also be on hand to demonstrate her artwork, there will be egg-painting sessions for youngsters and the resident florist is going to create a display which mirror the book’s floral cover.
The event will be repeated on Easter Day (Sunday April 5), both Bent’s Garden Centre and RHS Bridgewater have shown an interest in hosting something similar there and over the coming months, Lisa will also be touring Wigan’s libraries with her book and back story.
She said: “Becoming a mother later in life was not straightforward.
"My path to Gabrielle involved IVF treatment and egg donation — a process that brings both immense hope and complex emotions. During pregnancy, I began thinking about the day my daughter would ask ‘Where did I come from?’ and I wanted a way to answer that question gently. Without clinical language. Without heaviness. Without shame. “Which is where the book came from. The Most Precious Gift was written from a mother’s desire to explain a child’s beginnings through warmth, belonging and love — not biology alone.
"While inspired by donor conception, the message extends far beyond one pathway to parenthood. The book reassures every child that they were wanted, hoped for, and loved long before they arrived.
"And the campaign beyond the book wants to see guidance and support for parents navigating conversations about donor conception with their children.”
The book was originally to be published last summer, but there were several delays, not least due to several proofings, but now it is finally ready.
It can be purchased via Lisa’s website preciousbooks.com (not at Waterstones at present, despite the retailer’s online claims – a metadata glitch apparently – although Lisa hopes to see them on the chain’s shelves eventually).