The assisted reproduction industry may have brought smiles to the faces to many a childless couple but there is a huge risk of genetic thefts, human and ova trafficking and hyper-medicalisation affecting the woman, warns a new book.
In ‘Politics Of The Womb: The Perils of IVF, Surrogacy & Modified Babies’, author Pinki Virani presents a complete picture of what is sold to desperately wanting-to-be parents as miraculous medico-technology. The book, published by Penguin Random House, states the factual failure rates of IVF and other reproductive techniques, points to the futility of such artificial assistance if a father passes on his genetic infertility to his IVF-child, and uncovers the ‘IVF package’ which becomes the woman and her unborn, through which a newly born baby is denied colostrum - its fundamental foremost-hour feed - from breast milk.
It also tracks the death of commercial surrogates; the emotional exploitativeness of female egg-freezing; the destruction of humaneness around “donations” of sperm and ova; the genetic thefts; the rampant human and ova trafficking; the moral compass-lost procedures behind “designer offspring”; and the very real risk of broken babies and breaking mothers.
“Easier, at any rate, than renting out their vulvae as call girls; more discreet, taking comparatively much less time, than renting out their uterus as commercial surrogates. College-going girls are doing it for the ‘extra cash’ as are aspiring starlets and models; young women studying to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, air hostesses, these are the diva donors. It’s all done under-the-radar. Egg-selling women are sought out - by the agents, some of whom were once sellers themselves.”
Virani suggests that a regulatory board or authority should ensure that licences for assisted reproduction clinics are given out selectively and these are monitored rigorously. Penguin Random House India Associate Publisher Udayan Mitra says, “We are pleased to publish such a path-breaking book on assisted reproduction as much for its larger implications, both cultural and ethical, than those who buy into it perceive. It was time for a searing argument about why, and how, repro tech has socio-political ramifications not only on women but also their families, societies and countries. This and the data, insights and human stories which have standout value should appeal universally to readers of all ages regardless of gender.”