its share without injury to other organs. Don’t say you weren’t warned!’
Jo found herself wondering exactly when second-wave feminism had begun in America. Judging by the expressions on the faces of some of the women in the audience, it wouldn’t be long in coming.
‘Then, to balance the scales, in the late 1800s a New York physician, Emil Noeggerath, argued that sterility is caused by gonorrhoea and men with the disease infect their wives.’
Some of the men in the audience looked distinctly uneasy at this turn of events, as did a couple of the women. Some wives stared straight ahead, carefully making their faces blank.
‘ As an interesting aside, family size was shrinking dramatically with increased knowledge of contraception and in 1910 President Theodore Roosevelt and other eugenicists warned that ‘wilful sterility’ on the part of white, middle class Americans was unpatriotic, leading to ‘race suicide.’ However, our concern here is with those unable to conceive, not those choosing to limit the number of children they have. In 1921 a test for blocked fallopian tubes, a major cause of female infertility, was developed. And in 1934 twin daughters were born from donor insemination.Research is moving quickly now – just over ten years ag o John Rock reported the first fertilisation of human eggs in a laboratory and now public demand for fertility treatment far outpaces our capacity. The Abraham and Sarah project builds on Rock’s work. We confidently expect our first test-tube baby any day now!’
Jo smiled to herself – she could have told him it would be another twenty years or more before the first test-tube baby would be born. She remembered watching the story on the television news back home.
The thought of home almost made Jo gasp out loud; the longing was so acute. Jo knew that strong emotions made it possible for others to read her thoughts, despite her shielding. She did not want to draw any attention to herself, so made a huge effort to calm her mind and concentrate on what Titus was saying.
Titus invited the group to visit the laboratory he called The Nursery. As they filed in, tightly packed around a workbench, Jo noticed that Lethe’s customary air of boredom had been replaced with genuine interest. She engaged Titus in animated conversation, asking intelligent questions. Clearly the subject fascinated her.
Titus was enchanted and teased Lethe. ’Aren’t you afraid of developing a monstrous brain and a puny body with all this thinking, little lady?’
Lethe laughed. ‘Oh, I don’t think that’s at all likely to happen,’ she purred. ‘Do you?’ Jo realised with a shock that Lethe was flirting with Titus. But he’s ancient! she thought, appalled. And she’s my age!
Still chuckling, and obviously flattered, Titus pointed out the test-tubes and Petri dishes used to contain the egg and sperm. ‘The term In Vitro Fertilisation or IVF, comes from the use of glass containers - in vitro being the Latin term for in glass . The embryos we create are incubated for eighteen hours and fertilisation will have occurred when there are pronuclei and six to eight cells.’
‘Then what happens?’ demanded Lethe.
‘We are looking at ways to put the fertilised egg back into the mother so the embryo can continue to develop naturally.’
‘How many babies have been born that way?’
Titus looked downcast. ‘So far, we have had no successes. But it will happen. Of that I am confident.’
Lethe pointed at one of the test-tubes. ‘I predict that this one will succeed.’ She pretended to be tuning into a higher power. ‘It will be a boy. And his name will be…’ She racked her brains for something unusual… ‘Sebastian!’
Jo nearly jumped out of her skin, then did a swift calculation. Was it possible? Even as she realised that it was entirely possible, however improbable, Lethe reached towards the test-tube, and proclaimed, ‘I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and
Jo found herself wondering exactly when second-wave feminism had begun in America. Judging by the expressions on the faces of some of the women in the audience, it wouldn’t be long in coming.
‘Then, to balance the scales, in the late 1800s a New York physician, Emil Noeggerath, argued that sterility is caused by gonorrhoea and men with the disease infect their wives.’
Some of the men in the audience looked distinctly uneasy at this turn of events, as did a couple of the women. Some wives stared straight ahead, carefully making their faces blank.
‘ As an interesting aside, family size was shrinking dramatically with increased knowledge of contraception and in 1910 President Theodore Roosevelt and other eugenicists warned that ‘wilful sterility’ on the part of white, middle class Americans was unpatriotic, leading to ‘race suicide.’ However, our concern here is with those unable to conceive, not those choosing to limit the number of children they have. In 1921 a test for blocked fallopian tubes, a major cause of female infertility, was developed. And in 1934 twin daughters were born from donor insemination.Research is moving quickly now – just over ten years ag o John Rock reported the first fertilisation of human eggs in a laboratory and now public demand for fertility treatment far outpaces our capacity. The Abraham and Sarah project builds on Rock’s work. We confidently expect our first test-tube baby any day now!’
Jo smiled to herself – she could have told him it would be another twenty years or more before the first test-tube baby would be born. She remembered watching the story on the television news back home.
The thought of home almost made Jo gasp out loud; the longing was so acute. Jo knew that strong emotions made it possible for others to read her thoughts, despite her shielding. She did not want to draw any attention to herself, so made a huge effort to calm her mind and concentrate on what Titus was saying.
Titus invited the group to visit the laboratory he called The Nursery. As they filed in, tightly packed around a workbench, Jo noticed that Lethe’s customary air of boredom had been replaced with genuine interest. She engaged Titus in animated conversation, asking intelligent questions. Clearly the subject fascinated her.
Titus was enchanted and teased Lethe. ’Aren’t you afraid of developing a monstrous brain and a puny body with all this thinking, little lady?’
Lethe laughed. ‘Oh, I don’t think that’s at all likely to happen,’ she purred. ‘Do you?’ Jo realised with a shock that Lethe was flirting with Titus. But he’s ancient! she thought, appalled. And she’s my age!
Still chuckling, and obviously flattered, Titus pointed out the test-tubes and Petri dishes used to contain the egg and sperm. ‘The term In Vitro Fertilisation or IVF, comes from the use of glass containers - in vitro being the Latin term for in glass . The embryos we create are incubated for eighteen hours and fertilisation will have occurred when there are pronuclei and six to eight cells.’
‘Then what happens?’ demanded Lethe.
‘We are looking at ways to put the fertilised egg back into the mother so the embryo can continue to develop naturally.’
‘How many babies have been born that way?’
Titus looked downcast. ‘So far, we have had no successes. But it will happen. Of that I am confident.’
Lethe pointed at one of the test-tubes. ‘I predict that this one will succeed.’ She pretended to be tuning into a higher power. ‘It will be a boy. And his name will be…’ She racked her brains for something unusual… ‘Sebastian!’
Jo nearly jumped out of her skin, then did a swift calculation. Was it possible? Even as she realised that it was entirely possible, however improbable, Lethe reached towards the test-tube, and proclaimed, ‘I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and
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