“A highly original essay from a master stylist. With brutal honesty Desmond Traynor weaves the  enthralling story of his personal experience with philosophical musings on the ethics of reproduction. Provocative, profound, and ultimately very balanced.” Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is a writer and critic. “Desmond Traynor’s ‘The Most Natural Thing in the World’ is a sweeping, personal, at times grippingly candid examination of perhaps the most fundamental decision a human being will ever make: whether or not to beget new life.” Rob Doyle is a writer, whose most recent book is Autobibliography. “Reflecting on his own experience of family, Desmond Traynor has written a moving, clear-eyed examination of why society pressures women and men to reproduce. It is erudite, provocative and necessary.” Patrick Chapman, author of The Following Year.