Reproductive Technologies and the Law

Since the first edition of Reproductive Technologies and the Law was published, the field of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has advanced, matured and ventured into brand new frontiers in science and medicine. To date, more than eight million children worldwide have been born via ART, with three out of every 100 babies born in the United States the product of assisted conception. With advances in germline genetic technologies adding new opportunities for disease prevention, the impact and import of the field cannot be overstated. The third edition invites readers to explore the origins of assisted conception and then trace its development to the present day.

Reproductive Technologies and the Law is designed to introduce our students to the essentials in science, medicine, law and ethics that underpin and shape each of the topics that combine to form the law of reproductive technologies. The third edition brings fresh perspectives from three new co-authors as well as an array of new cases, graphics, statutes, policies, and commentaries. New topics include the status of parentage in the wake of marriage equality and the emergence of technologies that edit an embryo's genetic makeup. As each new technology is introduced, the reader is fully informed about the clinical application of the technique; that is, how the procedure is used to treat patients facing infertility or produce advances in medical research.

Once comfortable with the science, students can contemplate the legal parameters that do or should accompany the technology. As more ART laws arise on the legal landscape, and demand for the technologies grows, so too will the need for informed practitioners who can represent the interests and needs of each stakeholder in the complicated equation.

Judith Daar is the Dean of the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law and a professor of law.

Glenn Cohen is the James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

Seema Mohapatra is the MD Anderson Foundation Endowed Professor in Health Law and Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law.

Sonia Suter is the Kahan Family Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School.