The Elusive Embryo: How Men and Women Approach New Reproductive Technologies [Paperback]

Gay Becker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520224310 | ISBN-13: 978-0520224315 | Publication Date: December 4, 2000 | Edition: 1

In the first book to examine the industry of reproductive technology from the perspective of the consumer, Gay Becker scrutinizes the staggering array of medical options available to women and men with fertility problems and assesses the toll--both financial and emotional--that the quest for a biological child often exacts from would-be parents. Becker interviewed hundreds of people over a period of years; their stories are presented here in their own words. Absorbing, informative, and in many cases moving, these stories address deep-seated notions about gender, self-worth, and the cultural ideal of biological parenthood. Becker moves beyond people's personal experiences to examine contemporary meanings of technology and the role of consumption in modern life. What emerges is a clear view of technology as culture, with technology the template on which issues such as gender, nature, and the body are being rewritten and continuously altered.
The Elusive Embryo chronicles the history and development of reproductive technology, and shows how global forces in consumer culture have contributed to the industry's growth. Becker examines how increasing use of reproductive technology has changed ideas about "natural" pregnancy and birth. Discussing topics such as in vitro fertilization, how men and women "naturalize" the use of a donor, and what happens when new reproductive technologies don't work, Becker shows how the experience of infertility has become increasingly politicized as potential parents confront the powerful forces that shape this industry. The Elusive Embryo is accessible, well written, and well documented. It will be an invaluable resource for people using or considering new reproductive technologies as well as for social scientists and health professionals.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Infertility is no longer a neutral term suggesting an inability to conceive, according to Becker (Disrupted Lives; Healing the Infertile Family), but has become a "disease" to be cured through a strange marriage of medicine, technology and commerce. In this study of the "subjective experience" of using reproductive technologies, based on interviews with more than 300 women and men, she argues that a variety of market and ethical forces conspire to make these treatments look not only deceptively safe and successful, but also morally necessary. Chancy technologies such as in vitro fertilization (success rate: 20%) tap into what Becker identifies as a specifically American tolerance for gambling and risk; at the same time, she suggests, they invoke a more conventional Protestant ethic of perseverance and meritocracy. Becker's interview subjects believe they'll either get lucky or work hard enough to become pregnant, but the time-consuming, expensive and exhausting process leaves the women feeling like machines, dehumanized and violated, while the men feel emasculated and left out. The long quotations from the study's participants are far less compelling than Becker's intriguing argument that anxieties around reproductive technologies encapsulate cultural assumptions about what sorts of people (white, monied, educated) are encouraged to reproduce. Becker's work will interest the increasing number of people considering reproductive technologies, as well as health professionals, cultural anthropologists and general readers concerned with the developing relationship between technology and the body. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

"Gay Becker, the leading ethnographer of the infertility experience in the U.S., provides a powerful account of how American women and men think, feel, and talk about their utilization of new reproductive technologies. This book will be required reading for those embarking on the infertility treatment odyssey, as well as for scholars interested in the relationship of gender to technology." --Marcia Inhorn, author of Infertility and Patriarchy

"This is a very powerful book. It forces the reader to scrutinize his/her own relationships to biology, to parenthood and to normalcy. But Gay Becker's real tour de force goes beyond even this! The deeper accomplishment of her work is that when, in a decade or two, children born through these new reproductive technologies ask the parents why they were born in the first place, they will be able to turn to Becker's book. The answers will be cultural as well as personal, deeply anchored not only in their parents' desires and experiences but also in profound social and technological innovations." --Isabelle Bazanger, author of Inventing Pain Medicine from the Laboratory to the Clinic

"As a longtime facilitator of infertility support groups, I found The Elusive Embryo to be a fascinating and powerful examination of the cultural forces that shape the experience of being infertile as well as of the relationship between reproductive technologies and the consumers they serve. This is a book that makes you think; it is also one that offers recognition, perspective, and ultimately solace to those undergoing the transforming process of dealing with infertility."--Cecile T. Lampton, M.S.

"What distinguishes this book is its focus on the subjective experience of dealing with infertility and its treatment. The success of Becker's nuanced description of this difficult, emotionally-charged process may be explained by the way in which she brings to bear her own experience of infertility-a masterful exercise in involved detachment." --Simone Bateman, CNS-CERMES

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (December 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520224310
• ISBN-13: 978-0520224315
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #663,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Broad but not deep, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elusive Embryo: How Men and Women Approach New Reproductive Technologies (Paperback)

This book is great at laying out and discussing a variety of issues related to infertility, the complex technologies used to treat it, and the emotions that arise from these things. However, I was continually frustrated while reading this book because I felt that the author did not analyze very well the things she said. She would point out interesting comments made by couples seeking fertility treatment, but then give the same anaytical comments over and over again about the different couples' feelings. Also, I felt she was too biased and critical in her assessment of fertility treatment. It seemed like every couple (indeed, virtually everyone in the book was a married couple, very little representation from anyone else) felt the same way, ultimately -- disillusioned, doubtful about themselves, cynical about the process, and overall disappointed, even angry and bitter. This has not been my own personal experience, and I have a hard time believing that everyone in her large study sample was so dismal. It just wasn't a sophisticated, layered analysis. But it will probably be interesting to non-academics who would like to get a foundation for some of the negatives associated with infertility treatments, and with having problems with infertility.