Legal Conceptions

Written by a medical and a legal pioneer in the field, this book comprehensively reviews and analyzes the evolving law and policy issues surrounding assisted reproductive technologies. Dr. Howard W. Jones, Jr., founder of the first in vitro fertilization program in the United States, offers medical commentary, while attorney Susan L. Crockin, author of the column "Legally Speaking" in ASRM News (the newsletter of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine), provides legal analysis.

The book opens with a legal primer and timelines sketching the medical and legal milestones in the history of reproductive technology and law. Each chapter provides a case-by-case discussion of the relevant law, as well as cogent medical and legal commentary and analysis on a particular substantive area. Chapter topics deal with a vast array of issues, including artificial insemination, sperm and egg donation, traditional and gestational surrogacy, posthumous reproduction, same-sex parentage, genetics, cryopreservation and embryo litigation, discrimination and access to reproductive care, professional liability, stem cell research, and abortion.

In discussing the medical and legal issues surrounding these topics, Crockin and Jones reveal what has gone right and what at times has gone terribly wrong for both the families and the professionals involved. They make clear that technological advancements have far outpaced the laws and policies in place to protect all who use them.

This book makes a timely contribution to current debates over the legal and policy issues raised by the highly publicized birth of octuplets in California and the embryo legislation activity taking place in many states. It offers information and insight to policymakers, medical and legal professionals, patients and other participants, and everyone else interested in the history and future direction of the field.