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Title details for Designing Babies by Robert Klitzman - Available

Designing Babies

How Technology is Changing the Ways We Create Children

by Robert Klitzman
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Since the first "test tube baby" was born over 40 years ago, In Vitro Fertilization and other Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) have advanced in extraordinary ways, producing millions of babies. An estimated 20% of American couples use infertility services to help them conceive, and that number is growing. Such technologies permit thousands of people, including gay and lesbian couples and single parents, to have offspring. Couples can now transmit or avoid passing on certain genes to their children, including those for chronic disease and, probably sometime soon, height and eye color as well. Prospective parents routinely choose even the sex of their future child and whether or not to have twins. The possibilities of this rapidly developing technology are astounding-especially in the United States, where the procedures are practically unregulated and a large commercial market for buying and selling human eggs is swiftly growing. New gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR, allows for even more direct manipulation of embryos' genes. As these possibilities are increasingly realized, potential parents, doctors, and policy-makers face complex and critical questions about the use-or possible misuse-of ARTs. Designing Babies confronts these questions, examining the ethical, social, and policy concerns surrounding reproductive technology. Based on in-depth interviews with providers and patients, Robert Klitzman explores how individuals and couples are facing quandaries of whether, when, and how to use ARTs. He articulates the full range of these crucial issues, from the economic pressures patients face to the moral and social challenges they encounter as they make decisions which will profoundly shape the life of their offspring. In doing so, he reveals the broader social and biological implications of controlling genetics, ultimately arguing for closer regulation of procedures which affect the lives of generations to come and the future of our species as a whole.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 9, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780190054496

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780190054496
      • File size: 899 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 13, 2019

      In explaining the deeper, complex medical and bioethical issues underlying the burgeoning industry of assisted reproduction, Klitzman (psychiatry, Coll. of Physicians and Surgeons, Joseph Mailman Sch. of Public Health, Columbia Univ.: Am I My Genes?) blends personal experience, original research, and international comparisons in order to compose a wide-ranging and vividly informative analysis. Chapters describe the affected population, including unconventional pairings as well as their reproductive choices from egg donation to embryo selection, how patients select doctors and vice versa, and associated stressors such as finances, support systems, and spiritual concerns. The author projects future developments and advocates various reforms to the current laissez-faire U.S. system. In particular, egg donation risks, the need for standards and oversight, and the creation of a central registry of donors are emphasized. Social costs and the rights of offspring are also considered. Current medical protocols are competently described, but the book's focus on bioethical and psychological issues suggests that it will not become outdated quickly despite rapid changes in technology such as the application of CRISPR techniques.

      VERDICT Well-researched and rigorous yet highly readable, this study of reproductive liberty will assist patients on their journey through the infertility maze and enlighten general readers about this ever-changing industry.--Antoinette Brinkman, formerly with Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville

      Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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