Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America
Irin Carmon
Oct 2025 · Simon and Schuster · Narrated by Irin Carmon
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7 hr 38 min
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From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG and award-winning journalist Irin Carmon, an ambitious and “gripping page-turner” (The Boston Globe) of what’s gone wrong with pregnancy in America, through the lens of history, politics, and the searing experiences of five women.
Award-winning journalist Irin Carmon follows five women in New York City and rural Alabama through an American system that can turn the most ordinary human event—pregnancy—into a fight for your life, your freedom, and your dignity. What happens as these women seek respectful, high-quality medical care for their pregnancies, whether wanted or not, is a uniquely American story, one that also includes a heroic doctor fighting for the better reality that everyone deserves.
Eight months pregnant herself when the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, Carmon spent years reporting what she felt in her bones: that the typical story of pregnancy had been radically incomplete—and that the story is bigger than one court case or one experience of pregnancy. Going beyond the headlines and any one experience or choice, Unbearable illuminates the buried history of American obstetrics, the disappearance of pregnancy care options across the country, and the ever-proliferating laws that treat a fetus as a person and a woman as a vessel.
A profound call to action, “Unbearable exposes the devastating reality: that in today’s America becoming pregnant can mean losing your basic human dignity and autonomy. With meticulous reporting, riveting storytelling, and profound compassion, Carmon reveals how our healthcare system fails women at their most vulnerable moments, and why we must do better” (Hillary Rodham Clinton).
Award-winning journalist Irin Carmon follows five women in New York City and rural Alabama through an American system that can turn the most ordinary human event—pregnancy—into a fight for your life, your freedom, and your dignity. What happens as these women seek respectful, high-quality medical care for their pregnancies, whether wanted or not, is a uniquely American story, one that also includes a heroic doctor fighting for the better reality that everyone deserves.
Eight months pregnant herself when the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, Carmon spent years reporting what she felt in her bones: that the typical story of pregnancy had been radically incomplete—and that the story is bigger than one court case or one experience of pregnancy. Going beyond the headlines and any one experience or choice, Unbearable illuminates the buried history of American obstetrics, the disappearance of pregnancy care options across the country, and the ever-proliferating laws that treat a fetus as a person and a woman as a vessel.
A profound call to action, “Unbearable exposes the devastating reality: that in today’s America becoming pregnant can mean losing your basic human dignity and autonomy. With meticulous reporting, riveting storytelling, and profound compassion, Carmon reveals how our healthcare system fails women at their most vulnerable moments, and why we must do better” (Hillary Rodham Clinton).
From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG and award-winning journalist Irin Carmon, an ambitious and “gripping page-turner” (The Boston Globe) of what’s gone wrong with pregnancy in America, through the lens of history, politics, and the searing experiences of five women.
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About the author
Irin Carmon is an award-winning senior correspondent at New York magazine, where she covers gender, law, politics, and more. Previously, she was a CNN contributor, a contributing writer to The Washington Post’s “Outlook”, a national reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, and a staff writer at Salon and Jezebel. She is the author of Unbearable and the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters. Find out more at IrinCarmon.com.
Irin Carmon is an award-winning senior correspondent at New York magazine, where she covers gender, law, politics, and more. Previously, she was a CNN contributor, a contributing writer to The Washington Post’s “Outlook”, a national reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, and a staff writer at Salon and ...
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