Conception through a looking glass: the paradox of IVF

Abstract

As we enter the fifth decade of human IVF, this technique presents a paradox. On the one hand, IVF has become more regular and ordinary, even a new norm of social life. On the other hand, it has arguably become, as Alice might have said, 'curiouser and curiouser', with the development of its applications such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and gestational surrogacy, as well as human embryonic stem cell derivation. Five million miracle babies later, in the midst of 'the age of biological control', IVF can be seen as the source of important changes in how reproductive biology is understood - socially, ethically, medically and in terms of basic science. This article reviews three decades of social scientific research into IVF and suggests that, while the passage of time may have allowed IVF to become more 'routine', the opposite is also true. With hindsight, some of the more radical changes to the understandings of parenthood, kinship, fertility and technology to which IVF has contributed can be appreciated. Learning from this paradox must be part of the legacy of IVF's first half-century if its future evolution is to be directed wisely, safely and conscientiously.

Pregnant Metaphors and Surrogate Meanings: Bringing the Ethnography of Pregnancy and Surrogacy into Conversation in Israel and Beyond

“…In line with our contention that it is only by considering the influence of normative pregnancy that we can comprehend surrogate gestation, we applaud Franklin's (2013) call for a bi-directional approach to comprehending how pregnancy is changing in the age of surrogacy. We have argued that in Israel, understanding surrogacy is only possible by recognizing it as an extension of or at least in conversation with normal pregnancy.…”

Supportive Social Interactions in Infertility Treatment Decrease Cortisol Levels: Experimental Study Report

“…The acceptance and use of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has been systematically increasing over the last 30 years irrespective of the varying attitudes toward infertility treatment throughout the world (Kovacs et al, 2012). However, in Poland the acceptance of ART is still lower than in other Western European countries (Franklin, 2013) and the social stigma of infertility exists (Dembińska, Malina, in press). The varying rates of acceptance of ART depend on the religious and political context, and the financial and legal regulations within different countries.…”

The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969–1978. III. Variations in procedures

“…Louise Joy Brown was born on 25 July 1978, an event that has had a major impact on science, medicine and society (Franklin, 2013). In the two preceding papers, we reported on our analysis of research notes spanning 1969 to 1978 covering the period when Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy were working in Oldham and Cambridge towards this achievement (Elder and Johnson, 2015a), and on the numbers of treatment cycles involved and their outcomes (Elder and Johnson, 2015b).…”