Reproductive Technologies: Gender, Motherhood and Medicine

Thecreationof`test-tubebabies'actedasaspurtopublicdebateabouttheimplicationsofresearchonembryos,invitrofertilization,surrogatemotherhood,andthewholerangeoftechnologiesconcernedwithhumanreproduction.Thescopeofreproductivetechnologiesexaminedinthisvolume-fromtechniquesforthemedical`management'ofchildbirth,togeneticengineering-issuchthatfewwomeninthewesternworld,andsmallerandsmallernumbersinthethirdworld,escapetheirinfluence.Whatthenistheirimpact:ontheprocessofreproduction,onfamilylifeandparticularlyonwomen?`ReproductiveTechnologies'isaremarkablecollectionoforiginalessayswhichattemptstoplacethecurrentcontroversyoverreproductivetechnologiesinapolitical,legalandeconomiccontext.Contributors-includingLesleyDoyal,AnnOakley,RosPetchesky,CarolSmart,HilaryRose,andNaomiPfeffer-examinesystematicallythetechnologiesthathavesparkedoffthesedebates.Theyexploretheproblemofinfertilitywhichisusedtovalidatereproductivetechnologies;thewayassumptionsaboutthefamilyandaboutbiologicalparenthoodcontinuetostructuretheargumentsforandagainst;theimpactofthemedicalizationofchildbirth;thewaydebatesareembeddedinchangingconceptionsofpaternalrights,maternalrightsandembryorights;theproblemsofprovidingadequatehealthcareforwomen;and,aboveall,theurgencywithwhichtheseissuesraiseproblemsabouttheaccountabilityofscience.