Description
Book SynopsisA wide-ranging history of assisted reproductive technologies and their ethical implications. Finalist of the PROSE Award for Best Book in History of Science, Medicine and Technology by the Association of American PublishersSince the 1978 birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in England, more than eight million children have been born with the help of assisted reproductive technologies. From the start, they have stirred controversy and raised profound questions: Should there be limits to the lengths to which people can go to make their idea of family a reality? Who should pay for treatment? How can we ensure the ethical use of these technologies? And what can be done to address the racial and economic disparities in access to care that enable some to have children while others go without?In The Pursuit of Parenthood, historian Margaret Marsh and gynecologist Wanda Ronner seek to answer these challenging questions. Bringing their unique expertise in gender history and women's heal
Trade ReviewMargaret Marsh and Wanda Ronner are clear in what they advocate . . . they are wonderfully level-headed guides.
—Michele Pridmore-Brown,
Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsPreface
Introduction. The Past as Prologue
Chapter 1. Test-Tube Babies Just around the Corner
Chapter 2. From First Dream to First Baby
Chapter 3. IVF Comes to America
Chapter 4. From Miracle Births to Medical Mainstream
Chapter 5. The Elusive Search for National Consensus
Chapter 6. A Lot of Money Being Made
Chapter 7. Beyond Infertility
Chapter 8. Can the Wild West of Reproductive Medicine Be Tamed?
Appendix. Assisted Reproductive Technologies by (Some of) the Numbers
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
