Just a tangent, but whenever I hear of this, I always hear Leonard Cohen's song in my mind:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/story+of+isaac_20082852.html

It never struck me before, but it's funny that both the stories of the Akedah and the stories of Sarah & Chanah's infertility are told on the same holiday, what, in the Jewish calender, is seen as both the new year and the birthday of the world. I could pontificate, but my mind is weary...