The baby business How money, science, and politics drive the commerce of conception

Throughout much of Western history, the uterus was considered an independent organism, a voracious animal within the female body that required “feeding”. That conceptualization rendered women mere bearers of children, despite very high risks of maternal and infant mortality. While complication rates have plummeted, having children is no longer viewed as satisfaction for the ravenous animal within. Yet as Debora Spar aptly describes in The baby business: how money, science and politics drive the commerce of conception, this hunger for children drives the booming business of reproductive technology. Approximately 15% of all couples in the United States admit to some degree of infertility. Thankfully, infertility is no longer considered a taboo-ridden measure of female or male inadequacy.