The Dream of the Perfect Child (Bioethics and the Humanities) - Softcover

Rothschild, Joan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253217601 ISBN 13: 9780253217608

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2005

Synopsis

"Others have addressed the societal implications of contemplating 'the perfect child' but no one has written about it so poignantly, so compellingly, and so beautifully...The best discussion of bioethics and reproductive practices I've seen." -Carole Browner, University of California, Los Angeles "Science and technology, medical professionals, and parents meet in the doctor's office. This privatized setting is the site for individual decisions: whether to test or not, whether to keep a pregnancy or terminate it, and for which diagnosed 'defect.' Each decision becomes another judgment as to which conditions, and which children, are acceptable or not. As they aggregate over time, individual decisions add up to a selection process, marking the imperfect, those who may be dispensed with, while certifying those worthy to be born. This process constitutes the discourse of the perfect child." -from the Introduction Every parent wants a healthy, normal child, and scientific and technological advances have now made this increasingly possible to achieve. But progress comes with a price. Tracing its roots from Enlightenment thought through the biological discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries, Joan Rothschild shows how the dream of human perfectibility masks a darker motivation to eliminate all that does not meet its increasingly heightened standards. Joan Rothschild points to the thousands of decisions about prenatal testing that are made each day in the doctor's office, the context in which they occur, and how they add up to the discourse of the perfect-and imperfect-child. She argues that the mainstream bioethics community has been ineffective in raising appropriate questions, resulting in support for the status quo. Drawing on counter-voices from medicine and feminist ethics, as well as from pregnant women and people with disabilities, The Dream of the Perfect Child reevaluates the uses of genetics and prenatal testing. Ultimately, the goal is to change reproductive medical practice and thereby transform the dream.

About this title

Review:

"... should be embraced for the intelligence and depth it brings to the dialogue over reproductive genetics. Rothschild's amply documented historical overview, coupled with her keen observations of the role of feminism and bioethics in the burgeoning practice of reproductive medicine, commends her work to any interested observer of technology and culture." -Technology and Culture

Synopsis:

Every parent wants a healthy, normal child, and scientific and technological advances have now made this increasingly possible to achieve. But, progress comes with a price. Tracing its roots from Enlightenment thought through the biological discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries, Joan Rothschild shows how the dream of human perfectibility masks a darker motivation to eliminate all that does not meet its increasingly heightened standards. Joan Rothschild points to the thousands of decisions about prenatal testing that are made each day in the doctor's office, the context in which they occur, and how they add up to the discourse of the perfect - and imperfect - child. She argues that the mainstream bioethics community has been ineffective in raising appropriate questions, resulting in support for the status quo. Drawing on counter-voices from medicine and feminist ethics, as well as from pregnant women and people with disabilities, "The Dream of the Perfect Child" reevaluates the uses of genetics and prenatal testing. Ultimately, the goal is to change reproductive medical practice and thereby transform the dream.

Joan Rothschild is professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and research associate at the Center for Human Environments, The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is author of many publications, including "Machina Ex Dea: Feminist Perspectives on Technology". She lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0253217601
• ISBN 13: 9780253217608
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360