“The Pursuit of Parenthood”

Guests: Margaret Marsh, Wanda Ronner

Louise Brown was the first baby born by in vitro fertilization in 1978. While making babies in a laboratory generated a lot debate in the past, today it is a widely used practice for people with fertility issues. But as assisted reproductive technologies and practices continue to evolve, compensated gestational surrogacy, uterus transplants and genetically modified embryos raise new ethical questions. In their new book, The Pursuit of Parenthood, sisters MARGARET MARSH, a professor of history at Rutgers University, and WANDA RONNER, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania, look at the history and future of reproductive technologies and explore the thorny questions that arise around women’s bodies, fertility, and having children.