Baby-making: what the new reproductive treatments mean for families and society

With the availability of contraception and fertility treatments now, the choices offered to couples in the 21st century in the developing world are significantly wider than ever before. Bart Fauser and Paul Devroey explore the new technologies for infertility treatment and consider the wider political and social questions that treatment raises. In the developing world, the choices available to couples for fertility treatments in the 21st century are wider than ever before. This is a time when most types of infertility can be treated by modern 'test-tube' methods, yet reproduction itself has become inextricably bound with social and political trends - declining birth rates, delayed first pregnancy, childbirth beyond the age of 40, the state funding of infertility treatment - fertility treatment is a hot topic, high on theagenda of politicians in their efforts to reverse declining national fertility rates.The range of new technologies is expansive, from embryo selection by genetic analysis to egg donation in the over-forties and cryopreservation. Today, the 'assistance' of conception with treatments such as IVF reflects a life-choice whose context is immediately social, cultural, personal, and political.Arguing that these new technologies allow the 'design' of babies in a way which is far beyond the spontaneity of nature, Bart Fauser and Paul Devroey describe the new treatments, consider what they can do, and look at how far they have come in shaping our everyday lives. Considering the wider implications of fertility treatment, they also look at the issues it raises, and evaluate how far treatments can, and should, go. [An] eloquently written guide...[Fauser andDevroey provide much food for thought. I can strongly recommend it as a most readable introduction INDICE: How can we design babies? Why would anyone want to design a baby? The infertility epidemic IVF treatments for infertility Egg, sperm and embryo donation Fertility treatments in fertile patients Who should pay? Fertility asa lifestyle choice, infertility as a social problem

• ISBN: 978-0-19-959731-4
• Editorial: Oxford University
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 280
• Fecha Publicación: 27/10/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés