ABSTRACT
This chapter challenges accepted opinion on fetal screening and asks the reader to explore the wider, covert issues related to the production of human beings. It discusses eugenics and politics in attempting to highlight some of the reasons for the availability and eventual outcomes of screening. The chapter considers the acceptance of tests on the fetus using the ideas of Foucault and Parsons for sociological interpretation. Fetal surveillance may be considered to be overrated because it would be negligent and untrue to suggest that people have the technology to prevent fetal 'abnormalities'. An explanation of the social influences on the individual and the organisation will lead the reader to possibilities for the future. The chapter considers the moral questions of whether the fetus is entitled to life and whether society is at liberty to choose a suitable commodity in the form of a child. It demonstrates that women have little say on screening and even less say on the outcomes.
