Ivf and Assisted Reproduction: A Global History

This is the first transnational history of IVF and assisted reproduction. It is a key text for scholars and students in social science, history, science and technology studies (STS), cultural studies, and gender and sexuality studies, and a resource for journalists, policymakers, and anyone interested in assisted reproduction. IVF was seen as revolutionary in 1978 when the first two IVF babies were born, in the UK and India. Assisted reproduction has now contributed to the birth of around ten million people. The book traces the work of IVF teams as they developed new techniques and laid the foundations of a multi-billion-dollar industry. It analyses the changing definitions and experience of infertility, the markets for eggs and children through surrogacy, cross-border reproductive treatment, and the impact of regulation. Using interviews with leading IVF figures, archives, media reports, and the latest science, it is a vital addition to the field of reproduction studies.

'In this book, the cultural and scientific imaginaries of assisted reproduction meet the obdurate histories of laboratory experiments, biological materials, and personal quests in a compelling account of the production of the global experience of assisted reproduction and its potential futures. From the first experiments in IVF to debates over regulation, from controversies to the future of gene editing and artificial wombs, this work provides a synoptic account of changes to reproduction wrought by technologies of IVF, its development and naturalisation as part of our reproductive repertoires. It is an important read for anyone interested in one of the most significant technological and social interventions ever developed.'
--Andrea Whittaker, Professor of Anthropology, Monash University, author of International Surrogacy as Disruptive Industry in Southeast Asia (2019)