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Designing Babies examines the ethical, social, and policy concerns surrounding the use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). Basing his analysis on in-depth interviews with providers and patients, Robert Klitzman provides vital insights, guidance, and specific policy recommendations for understanding and regulating these procedures.
List of contents
- Part I: Introduction
- 1 "Take Home Baby": Reproductive dreams and journeys
- 2 "Not part of the parent club": Problems conceiving a healthy child
- Part II: Choosing reproductive technologies
- 3 Becoming an infertility patient: Choosing treatment
- 4 Choosing eggs
- 5 Choosing sperm
- 6 Choosing embryos to avoid disease
- 7 "Family balancing": Choosing sex and other traits
- 8 "Two kids for the price of one?": Choosing twins
- 9 Choosing wombs
- 10 Choosing children
- Part III: Choosing adults
- 11 Choosing doctors
- 12 "Good enough parents?": Choosing patients
- Part IV: Facing and addressing stresses
- 13 "How much is a child worth?": Paying for treatment
- 14 Emotional roller-coasters: Confronting other stresses
- 15 Coping and Finding Support
- 16 "Meant to be?": Choosing religion and spirituality
- Part V: Designing our future
- 17 Choosing education
- 18 Choosing policies
- 19 Choosing our future world
- Appendices:
- A. Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
- B. Methods
- C. Sample Questions
- Acknowledgements
About the author
Robert Klitzman, MD, is a Professor of Psychiatry in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Joseph Mailman School of Public Health, and the Director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University. He co-founded & for 5 years co-directed the Center for Bioethics. He has conducted research and written about a variety of bioethical issues, and has authored or co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles, as well as nine books, including Am I My Genes?, The Ethics Police?, Mortal Secrets, Being Positive, A Year-long Night, The Trembling Mountain, and In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist.
His work has appeared in JAMA, Science, and other scientific publications, as well as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and The Nation. He has received several awards for his work, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, and the Hastings Center, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He has been a member of the Research Ethics Advisory Panel of the US Department of Defense, and is a gubernatorial appointee to the NY State Stem Cell Commission.
Summary
Designing Babies examines the ethical, social, and policy concerns surrounding the use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). Basing his analysis on in-depth interviews with providers and patients, Robert Klitzman provides vital insights, guidance, and specific policy recommendations for understanding and regulating these procedures.
Additional text
Klitzman delivers a well-researched book that is filled with empirical data, providing a clear picture of the current state of the field. Understanding where we are now is imperative to inform our path forward. This book is therefore an important resource for anyone who is interested in predicting where we will go from here or, even better, recommending or creating policy on where we should go from here.
