Making babies : birth markets and assisted reproductive technologies in India

Summary:
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) are usually publicised as miracle cure for infertility. However, the social and economic context in which these technologies are developed and promoted have a strong bearing on their use or misuse. Carefully packaged in the garb of modernity and choice, the efficacy of these technologies is difficult to challenge. On a deeper analysis, their costs seem to heavily outweigh the benefits. A chain of adverse effects on women s and children s health, commodification of their bodies, commercialisation of the reproductive process, unabashed encouragement to sex selection, obsession about biological progeny and eugenics are only some of the concerns that ARTs bring to the fore. This book is an attempt to look into various aspects of ARTs their social, medical, legal and economic implications on women in particular, and society at large. The book comprises seven essays by eminent activists and academics, each exploring a specific aspect of ART.