Prosthetic Bodies : The Construction of the Fetus and the Couple As Patients in Reproductive Technologies

Among the vast literature on contemporary reproductive technologies, __Prosthetic Bodies__ stands out in its effective combination of insights, methods, and theories from the history of medicine, constructivist science and technology studies, and feminist theory. The double focus on IVF and related techniques, and fetal treatment and surgery, enables the identification of debatable tendencies within today's reproductive medicine: the translation of ever more medical problems basically unrelated to women's own reproductive health - and, in the case of fetal diagnosis and treatment, sometimes formerly even unrelated to reproduction as such - into medical indications for invasive, often highly experimental interventions in women's bodies. The analyses show how, through the operations and workings of reproductive technologies themselves, as well as a variety of discursive mechanisms within scientific language, today's recasting of men's fertility problems and children's congenital anomalies as women's reproductive problems comes to appear inevitable. The book challenges the ability of traditional forms of medical ethics and law to adequately identify this incremental process. The careful analyses and arguments in __Prosthetic Bodies__ will be relevant to students of science and technology, gender studies, philosophy, medical ethics, and law, and others interested in the cultural, ethical, and political ramifications of contemporary reproductive technologies. Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-6 Preliminary Movements....Pages 7-42 The Making of the New Patients....Pages 43-71 Treatments for Men and Children....Pages 73-98 Elusive Body Boundaries and Individuality....Pages 99-122 Only Angels Can Do Without Skin....Pages 123-136 Back Matter....Pages 137-172