Manufacturing Babies and Public Consent: Debating the New Reproductive Technologies

243 Pages·1995·13.111 MB·English

by  José Van Dyck (auth.)

MANUFACTURING BABIES AND
PUBLIC CONSENT

Manufacturing Babies
and Public Consent
Debating the New Reproductive
Technologies
Jose Van Dyck
Assistant Professor of Journalism, Universiry of Groningen, The Netherlands
M
MACMILLAN
©Jose VanDyck 1995
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-62965-9 ISBN 978-0-230-37342-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230373426
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson
Okehampton and Rochdale, England
To the memory of my father

Contents
Acknowledgments IX
Introduction: Manufacturing Babies and Public
Consent l
l Mapping the Public Debate on New
Reproductive Technologies 9
Introduction 9
A Public Debate as a Field of Struggle 14
Medical Authority and Feminist Criticism 27
2 Reading Science, Journalism. and Fiction as
Culture 35
Introduction 35
Science as Discourse 38
Journalism as Discourse 44
Science in Fiction, Fictions of Science 52
The Role of the Critic in a Public Debate 57
3 Constructing the Need for New Reproductive
Technologies 61
Introduction 61
The First Test-Tube Baby: 'Gee Whiz! A Miracle!' 62
From Miracle to Cure: Establishing the Need
for IVF 69
From Cure to Plague 77
4 Fem.inist Assessm.ents of New Reproductive
Technologies 87
Introduction 87
Constructing a Countermyth 90
Rejecting the Countermyth 99
Imagining Reproduction: Feminist Fictions
of Science 104
Feminism between Margin and Mainstream 114
Vll
Contents
Vlll
5 From Cure to Commodity: The Naturalization
ofiVF 119
Introduction 119
Playing the Odds: The Numbers Game 121
The Natural Construction of Medical Facts 128
Reconsidering Oppositional Strategies 143
6 From Need to Right: The Legalization of
Genetic Motherhood 149
Introduction 149
Anna Johnson versus the Los Angeles Times 152
The Naturalization of a Legal Definition 166
The Divided Feminist Body 171
7 From Legalization to Legislation: Race and
Age as Determining Factors 175
Introduction 175
Postmenopausal Pregancies 17 8
Transracial Impregnation 184
Nature, Logic and the Public Debate 189
Conclusion 195
Notes 205
Bibliography 227
Index 235
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to institutions and persons
on both sides of the Atlantic who helped me realize this project.
The American Association for University Women awarded me
an international fellowship which enabled me to complete my
library research in California. The University ofGroningen, The
Netherlands, generously allotted me precious research time
while writing this book. I am particularly grateful to the staff,
supporters and students of the Journalism Program for
continuously recharging my motivation. The faculty of the
Departments of Literature and Communication at the Uni
versity of California, San Diego provided a stimulating
intellectual environment. I would especially like to thank
Valerie Hartouni, Roddey Reid and Stephanie Jed for
commenting extensively on previous drafts. I have profited
from the thoughtful criticism of the members of the 'Gender and
Genre' group at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands:
Rosi Braidotti, Ruth Oldenziel, Lies Wesseling and Liana
Borghi. I appreciate Maureen McNeil's careful reading of the
manuscript and her insightful comments.
Over the years, I could always count on the love and kindness
of many close relatives and friends. I would like to thank my
mother, sisters and brothers for their incessant moral support
while I was residing in the USA. Christina Accomando not only
gave me valuable research assistance but she has also been an
important discussion partner and friend. Marlowe Miller and
David Keevil have inspired me with many good ideas. This book
could not have been completed without the intellectual response,
relentless support, editorial help and keen criticism of Ton
Brouwers, my best and oldest friend.
jOSE VAN DYCK
IX