Catawampus: The Fertility Process from a Man's Perspective

NASHVILLE, TN, March 28, 2014

Catawampus: 1. askew; awry. 2. positioned diagonally; cater-cornered. adverb. 3. diagonally; obliquely:

Late twenty-somethings Stuart Burkhalter and wife Julie were planning to have a baby. She went on vitamins and they went on one last vacation because they thought that Julie would soon be pregnant. Little did they know that they were embarking on a harrowing, almost two-year journey through an emotional and physical minefield that tested their relationship and resolve to become parents. Catawampus is the very personal tale of the madness and confusion of fertility treatments and all that those treatments entail but, this time, it's from the male perspective.

What Stuart and Julie discover as they go through the process is that they're not alone. At least one out of seven couples -- about 7.3 million people -- is grappling with infertility, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

In this debut memoir from a Nashville, TN native, Stuart offers entertaining, poignant writing and a necessary and underrepresented perspective of an important, hot-button issue. Through his eyes, we have a front row seat into the relationship between husband and wife, between parent and child, and between longtime friends. Ultimately, Catawampus questions the traditional fertility route that leads to live births in an average of only 30 percent of attempts to conceive (varies by age), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010.

Catawampus offers hope and insight for those going through the infertility struggle. The book will soon be available through Stuart's website and at bookstores in Nashville and Virginia. And, in May Catawampus will also be available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

For more information and to schedule an interview, speaking engagement or book-signing, call Stuart at 615-414-6558 or send him an email him at stuart.burkhalter@gmail.com. You may also contact his media specialist, Priscilla Goudreau-Santos, at 904-371-7751 or via email at priscillagoudreausantos@gmail.com.

About Stuart Burkhalter

Stuart A. Burkhalter is a Nashville, TN native. He was educated at Montgomery Bell Academy, the University of Virginia (U.Va.), and Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was a fourth generation graduate of Vanderbilt University. He lives in Nashville with his family and is an attorney with Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC.

Mr. Burkhalter began writing creatively in college while studying abroad at the University of Nottingham, England in the spring of 2002. In 2003, his short story "Evidence of a Decision" won the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society's Annual Literary Contest at U.Va. After college, he lived and worked in Washington, D.C. and New York City and, in his free time, wrote several short stories and screenplays. In 2005, he and a friend produced Of Age, a 32-minute short film from a script Stuart penned. Of Age was accepted into multiple film festivals and, in 2006, won the Best Short Drama award at the Blue Ridge Mountain Southwest Virginia Vision Film Festival in Roanoke, Va. In 2007, Mr. Burkhalter returned home to attend Vanderbilt University Law School. He graduated in 2010 and was elected a member of the Order of the Coif. In 2012, he began writing what eventually became Catawampus.