CGS-authored
Twenty-five years ago, the use of in vitro fertilization to conceive the first "test-tube" baby provoked an important debate -- about cloning, about designer babies and about what limits we need to place on human genetic engineering. Science has moved on, but the law has not kept pace. It's time to draw some lines.
The pros and cons of IVF were widely debated before Louise Brown first opened her eyes in Oldham, England, on July 25th, 1978. Time magazine made the birth its cover story even before it happened, quoting two dozen experts. The Chronicle summed up the immediate reaction as "Test-Tube Birth Called a Boon for Childless." The New York Times said, "Scientists Praise British Birth as Triumph."
Polls taken that fall showed that most Americans approved of IVF, and a clear majority were willing to undergo the procedure themselves if that's what they had to do to have a child.
There was opposition, particularly from some conservative theologians, but much more common than criticism of IVF itself was concern about where the technology might lead. Some worried that...