ABSTRACT

This ground-breaking book challenges us to re-think ourselves as techno-sapiens—a new species we are creating as we continually co-evolve ourselves with our technologies. While some of its chapters are imaginary, they are all empirically grounded in ethnography and richly theorized from diverse disciplines.

The authors go far beyond a techno-optimism vs. techno-pessimism stance, stretching our thinking about birthing techno-sapiens to consider not only how our cyborgian reproductive lives are constrained and/or enabled by technology but are also about emotions and spirit. The world of reproductive health care and particularly that of genetic engineering is developing exponentially, and current challenges are vastly different from those of a decade ago. The book is provocative, intended to generate debate, ideas, and future research and to influence ethical policy and practice in human techno-reproduction. It will be of interest across the social sciences and humanities, for reproductive scholars, bioethicists, techno-scientists, and those involved in the development and delivery of maternity services.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction:

Birthing Techno-Sapiens

part I|164 pages

From Biocultural Evolution to Human-Technology Co-Evolution

chapter 1|32 pages

Birth and the Big Bad Wolf:

Biocultural Evolution and Human Childbirth

chapter 2|13 pages

Egg Freezing Activists:

Extending Reproductive Futures to Cancer Patients, Single and Minority Women, and Transgender Men

chapter 3|17 pages

The Speculative Turn in IVF:

Egg Freezing, Reproductive Futures, and the Financialization of Fertility

chapter 4|13 pages

Sociology as Technology:

A Toolkit for Studying In Vitro Gametogenesis

chapter 6|20 pages

Making Better Babies?

Past and Future State Fair Contests Evaluating Geneticized Worth

chapter 9|14 pages

Elective Cesarean Births in the US and the Global Cesarean Epidemic:

Causes, Solutions, and Futuristic Implications

chapter 10|14 pages

Cancerous Contraceptives and the Incubation of Monsters:

Quechua Reproductive Etiology and Producing Necro-Techno-Sapiens

part II|118 pages

Imagining Techno-Holistic Reproductive Futures

chapter 12|15 pages

The Birth of a New Human Being:

The Utopian Project of the Late Soviet Waterbirth Movement and Its Inheritors

chapter 13|14 pages

Safety, Co-Regulation, and Polyvagal Theory:

The Autonomic Nervous System as the Missing Link in Childbirth Outcomes and Experiences

chapter 15|13 pages

Flexible Helpers:

Re-Scribing Obstetric Technologies to Generate More Viable Futures for “Good” Pregnancies and Births

chapter 16|13 pages

Coming Home:

Re-Visioning Place of Birth in the 21st Century

chapter 17|16 pages

Creating Life in Star Trek:

Future Imagineering

chapter |17 pages

Conclusions:

Birthing Techno-Sapiens in Disruptive Times