2117 MERF: History of Medicine Lecture | Test Tube Babies During American's Baby Boom by Kara Swanson, PhD., J.D. In-Person
The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear:
Kara Swanson, J.D., PhD.
Professor of Law
Northeastern University
Test Tube Babies During America’s Baby Boom: Artificial Insemination in Law and Medicine
Thursday, November 16, 2017 6:00-7:00
MERF Room 2117
In 1978, Louise Brown, the first baby born as a result of in vitro fertilization, was heralded around the world as the first “test tube” baby. But for decades, doctors had been quietly practicing artificial insemination, the first successful assisted reproductive technology (ART). As the post-WWII baby boom swelled the numbers of would-be parents seeking fertility treatment, the challenges posed by the use of donor gametes spilled into courtrooms and popular culture. Worries about this new form of family formation shaped medical practice and ultimately, the law.
