Fear, Wonder, and Science in the New Age of Reproductive Biotechnology

How does one make decisions today about in vitro fertilization, abortion, egg freezing, surrogacy, and other matters of reproduction? This book provides the intellectual and emotional intelligence to help individuals make informed choices amid misinformation and competing claims. Scott Gilbert and Clara Pinto-Correia speak to the couple trying to become pregnant, the woman contemplating an abortion, and the student searching for sound information about human sex and reproduction. Their book is an enlightening read for men as well as for women, describing in clear terms how babies come into existence through both natural and assisted reproductive pathways. They update “the talk” for the twenty-first century: the birds, the bees, and the Petri dishes.

Fear, Wonder, and Science in the New Age of Reproductive Biotechnology first covers the most recent and well-grounded scientific conclusions about fertilization and early human embryology. It then discusses the reasons why some of the major forms of assisted reproductive technologies were invented, how they are used, and what they can and cannot accomplish. Most important, the authors explore the emotional side of using these technologies, focusing on those who have emptied their emotions and bank accounts in a valiant effort to conceive a child. This work of science and human biology is informed by a moral concern for our common humanity.

Scott Gilbert is the Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology Emeritus at Swarthmore College and a Finland Distinguished Professor at the University of Helsinki. He is the author of the widely used textbooks Developmental Biology (eleventh edition, 2016), Ecological Developmental Biology: The Environmental Regulation of Development, Health, and Evolution (second edition, 2015), and Bioethics and the New Embryology: Springboards for Debate (2005).

Clara Pinto-Correia is a developmental biologist, novelist, historian of science, and professor. She performed some of the pioneering studies of mammalian cloning and has had a longstanding weekly biology program on Portuguese public radio. Her books include The Ovary of Eve: Egg and Sperm and Preformation (1997) and A Maravilhosa Aventura da Vida (The Marvelous Adventure of Life; 2008).