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Riverview Couple Publishes Poignant Pregnancy Tale
By Penny Fletcher penny@observernews.net
Jul 3, 2008 - 8:35:53 PM

Penny Fletcher Photos Debra and Elias Franco recently published their book, The Golden Egg, and started a charitable Golden Egg Fund at SunTrust Bank to help others who are going through fertility treatments and to give people who don’t know anything about the subject an inside look at all its ups and downs. The book is an interesting read for all women who have had, or want a child, and the Francos welcome questions and comments on their Web site, www.thegoldeneggstory.com.

RIVERVIEW - Never in a million years did Debra Franco think she would want another child. Or settle in a quiet community like Riverview.

The single mom had two teenagers. She’d had her tubes tied long ago and was enjoying her life. She owned her own home and had a fast-track corporate career on south Florida’s East Coast.

Life was a beach.

But then she met, and after a tumultuous romance, married - Elias Franco. Soon afterward, the two began a journey to have a baby together, despite the fact doctors told Debra her surgically- severed tubes could not be repaired.

“They said they (tubes) were very short and there wasn’t enough left of them,” Debra said.” But I felt that Eli should get to experience having a child, and I wanted to have one with him too.”

 Those thoughts set the two on a five-year path of ups and downs they later recorded in a book, The Golden Egg, and by establishing a Golden Egg Fund at SunTrust Bank that will go toward a number of charitable causes.

“Ninety-five percent of the book was written 13 years ago,” Eli said in a recent interview. “Then we put it on the shelf, and well- life got in the way.”

In 2007, about 10 years after moving to Riverview, they decided to finish it.
The result was more than they had hoped for. It seemed women all over the country identified with Debra’s plight- whether they had undergone In vitro Fertilization themselves or not.

“The book was enjoyable to me even though I didn’t have any fertility problems,” said Linda Schultheis, a neighbor of the Francos. “I think what I liked most was the way it was written, with the ‘he said’ and ‘she said’ parts. Seldom do we get to see or hear a man’s point of view contrasted with a woman’s point of view of the same event.”

The chapters are divided into “he said” and “she said” parts and follow the couple’s lives as they make three unsuccessful attempts at fertilization, all of which are emotionally, physically and financially draining, before the fourth and final attempt produces one fertilized egg, which they immediately name The Golden Egg.

Their daughter Madison is 15 now and the couple finally felt they should publish their story, donating a portion of each sale to charitable causes in thanksgiving for their good fortune.

“We established the Golden Egg Fund because of our desire to give back,” said Debra in a recent interview.

“We started the fund with our own money right after the launch of our book by putting $1,000 in SunTrust Bank,” Eli added. “We’re seeking organizations to partner with, groups that have extensive reach which will in turn increase donations into the fund.”

The Francos are currently negotiating with two organizations, which will each get to choose charities to receive portions from their efforts.

They already have letters from women all over the country describing the emotional roller coaster they felt when reading The Golden Egg.

Neither is a novice at writing. Debra was a ghostwriter at a publishing company and also wrote newsletters and did marketing while Eli has owned a video company and written poetry.

They also prepare weddings at Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast in Ruskin and are often called around the state as well as both have the title of “reverend” and can officiate. They also plan and set up the big event.

“This is a very different lifestyle than I thought my life would take,” said Eli. “It was difficult to finish the book while in the corporate world, but then after 30 years (with one company) I got laid off in 2007 and I had time to brush up all the ‘he said’ parts, and then Debra did the same.”

Readers are amazed at the bold, bare intimacy of feeling laid out on the pages and the accolades just keep rolling in.

“For some couples conceiving a baby is an absolute project. There’s so much infertility now,” Debra said.

Going the fertility clinic route can be costly.

“What years ago cost us $10,000 a try could now easily range from $20,000 up,” Eli said.

Encouraging others was their plan when they first started the book, but since then they have had so many posts to their Web site they decided to start a fund as well.

“Reading our story, we hope people will reflect on the challenges in their own lives,” Debra said. “Hopefully they will be able to appreciate those closest to them, understand the benefits of a sense of humor, and rediscover what love truly means to them.”

To find out more about it, or to order the book, visit www.thegoldeneggstory.com, or email Debra at debra@thegoldeneggstory.com.



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