Surrogates & Other Mothers: The Debates over Assisted Reproduction - Couverture souple

Macklin, Ruth

 
9781566391801: Surrogates & Other Mothers: The Debates over Assisted Reproduction

Synopsis

Developments in new reproductive technologies have confounded public policy and created legal and ethical quandaries for professionals and ordinary citizens alike. Drawing from the most current medical, psychiatric, legal, and bioethical literature, Ruth Macklin, noted author and philosopher, presents the arguments surrounding these advances through the voices of fictional characters. The episodes she narrates are based on real-life situations, both from her personal experience as a hospital ethicist and from the public arena, where such controversial court cases as that of Baby M have sparked a multitude of disparate opinions on surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, and egg and sperm donor program.

Macklin's hypoethical tale centers on Bonnie and Larry, an infertile couple longing for a child. As the couple's quest to become parents begins, they discover that Bonnie is physically incapable of carrying a pregnancy to term. Desperate to explore their options, Bonnie and Larry attempt adoption but are rejected by the agency without explanation. Finally, they contemplate surrogacy as their last chance to have a child. Seeking advice and answers, they consult health professionals, lawyers, pastoral counselors, and a bioethicist. In the course of this complicated and often painful decision-making process, they attend meetings of a government task force on reproduction where they hear both radical and liberal feminist positions.

Their experiences with friends, family members, two surrogates, hospital ethics committees, and special interest groups underscore the difficulty of coming to a consensus on such issues as AIDS, the right to privacy, premenstrual syndrome, the violation of surrogate contracts, and the responsibilities of therapists and physicians to their patients and to the community at large.

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À propos de l'auteur

Ruth Macklin is Professor of Bioethics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the author of eight books, including the highly praised Mortal Choices: Bioethics in Today's World and Enemies of Patients: How Doctors Are Losing Their Power and Patients Are Losing Their Rights. A consultant to and board member of several national and international organizations, including the National Institute of Health, the National Research Council, and the World Health Organization, she has directed her educational and writing efforts to issues of urban health, health policy and law, reproductive technologies, and biomedical research and ethics.

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Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9781566391795: Surrogates and Other Mothers: Debates Over Assisted Reproduction

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  1566391792 ISBN 13 :  9781566391795
Editeur : Temple University Press,U.S., 1994
Couverture rigide