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2 Local Warehouse Child Care and Parenting- Family Planning

Baby Business: Elite Eggs, Designer Genes, and the Thriving Commerce of Conception

by Debora L Spar

Baby Business: Elite Eggs, Designer Genes, and the Thriving Commerce of Conception Cover

ISBN13: 9781591396208
ISBN10: 1591396204
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Review:

"Among the troubling aspects of new reproductive technologies is the takeover of reproduction by the marketplace. This probing study accepts the free market process while casting a discerning and skeptical eye at its pitfalls. Harvard business prof Spar (The Cooperative Edge: The Internal Politics of International Cartels) explores many aspects of the high-tech commodification of procreation: the fabulous revenues commercial fertility clinics earn from couples' desperate desire for children and the ensuing conflicts between medical ethics and the profit motive; the premiums paid for sperm and eggs from genetically desirable donors; the possible exploitation of poor, nonwhite and Third World surrogate mothers paid to gestate the spawn of wealthy Westerners; the fine line between modern adoption practices and outright baby selling; and the new entrepreneurial paradigm of maternity, in which the official 'mother' simply finances the assemblage of sperm, purchased egg and hired womb and lays contractual claim to the finished infant. Spar considers most of these developments inevitable and not undesirable (they provide kids to parents who want them), but calls for government regulation to curb excesses and protect the interests of all involved. Her sanguinity will not satisfy all critics, but she offers a lucid, nuanced guide to this brave new world." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Infertility in America has become a string of titillating anecdotes, one long episode of 'Oprah': 'The surrogate took our baby.' 'Our baby has three mothers: Which is the real one?' 'I used my dead son's frozen sperm to make a grandchild.' 'My ex-wife stole our IVF embryos and had a baby.' Heartwarming, heartbreaking — these stories are all heart. We are so busy emoting that we never stop for a moment... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)

Book News Annotation:

Spar (business administration, Harvard Business School) explores the ways in which socio-economic factors are driving the global market for high-tech reproduction. Drawing upon independent research as well as interviews with top reproductive scientists, she reveals the inner workings of market segments such as surrogate motherhood, adoption, stem cell research, and human cloning. She concludes by suggesting some ways of regulating the "baby business."
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Book News Annotation:

Spar (business administration, Harvard Business School) explores the ways in which socio-economic factors are driving the global market for high-tech reproduction. Drawing upon independent research as well as interviews with top reproductive scientists, she reveals the inner workings of market segments such as surrogate motherhood, adoption, stem cell research, and human cloning. She concludes by suggesting some ways of regulating the "baby business." Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Jessica A Bruno, May 29, 2006 (view all comments by Jessica A Bruno)
Just finished reading this book. Loved it, but wish she could have done chapters on Fertility Awareness Method and once become pregnant, the birth of it, parenting as well. The reason why I feel she should have included them in the book because they need to address as well. I know there are books on these aspects of it, but feel they should have been in the book they need to be addressed as well.

Thank you.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781591396208
Subtitle:
How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception
Author:
Spar, Debora L
Author:
Spar, Debora L.
Publisher:
Harvard Business School Press
Subject:
Marketing - General
Subject:
Commerce
Subject:
Adoption
Subject:
Consumer Behavior - General
Publication Date:
January 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Pages:
298
Dimensions:
9.30x6.52x1.13 in. 1.38 lbs.

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