Originally published in 1989, Infertility looks at how fertility treatments fail women. At the time there was disturbing evidence of medical malpractice and invasive technologies which violated women’s bodies and took a heavy toll on their lives.
Here for the first time, women – from all over the world – tell their own stories about: the pain and stigma of infertility; never-ending cycles of drugs and hormone injections; the trauma of the ‘test-tube baby’ method (IVF); their unmet hopes when technology fails – yet again; the damage caused by experimental medicine and surgery; how they have been exploited as so-called ‘surrogate’ mothers.
These shocking stories shattered the myths of benevolent doctors working in the interests of women.
The women who speak out in this book offer support and suggest alternative strategies for other people with fertility problems. Their experiences show that we urgently need to resist the false promise of reproductive technologies if all women are not to become test-sites for medical experimentation and scientific ambition. Still often discussed today it is considered a classic in the field.
First published in 1989, this book looks at how fertility treatments fail women. At the time there was disturbing evidence of medical malpractice and invasive technologies which violated women’s bodies and took a heavy toll on their lives. These shocking stories shattered the myths of benevolent doctors working in the interests of women.
Acknowledgements. The Making of This Book Renate Klein Part One:
Infertility Treatments Give Me Children, Or Else I Die Katharina Stens West
Germany. Nowhere for Me to Be Margaret Lewis Australia. Every Month a Little
Miscarriage Andrea Belk-Schmehle West Germany. Motherhood has a History:
Amenorrhoea and Autobiography Maggie Humm England. Sometimes Perganol Kills
Alison Solomon Israel. Waiting for a Child Peter Humm England. Accepting
Infertility is a Lingering Process Titia Esser Holland Part Two: Experiencing
IVF The Production of Eggs and the Will of God Anita Goldman Israel. The
Insemination Circus Charlotte Böhm West Germany. Is It Worth It? I Just Dont
Know Anne Stuart Australia. He Called Me Number 27 Ute Winkler West Germany.
We Are Not Just Eggs But Human Beings Lene Koch Denmark. Baby Making in
Austria Brigitte Oberauer Austria. Giving Up: The Choice That Isnt Kirsten
Kozolanka Canada Part Three: Exploiting Fertile Women in the Name of
Infertility Surrogacy: Making the Links Gena Corea USA. Women Who Experienced
Surrogacy Speak Out: Mary Beth Whitehead USA; Alejandra Munoz Mexico;
Patricia Foster USA; Nancy Barrass USA. Transferring One Womans Pain to
Another is Not the Solution Elizabeth Kane USA Part Four: Rethinking
In-Fertility: Establishing Positive Frameworks Infertility as Crisis: Coping,
Surviving and Thriving Alison Solomon Israel. The Barren Desert Flourishes
in Many Ways: From Infertility to In-Fertility Lindsey Napier Australia. A
Voice for Infertile Women Ann Pappert Canada. Options for Involuntarily
Childless Women Ute Winkler/Traute Schöenberg West Germany Part Five:
Resistance Battleground Susan Eisenberg USA. Resistance: From the
Exploitation of Infertility to an Exploration of In-Fertility Renate Klein.
Glossary. Notes on Contributors. Resources. Further Reading. Index.
Dr Renate Klein is a Swiss-Australian biologist and social scientist who has been a feminist womens health activist since the early 1980s. She was Associate Professor of Womens Studies at Deakin University, Melbourne until 2006. She is the (co) editor/(co) author of 19 books, among them Theories of Womens Studies, Test-Tube Women, Infertility, Radically Speaking and Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation. Since 1991, she is also Director and Publisher at Spinifex Press.
