ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the knowledge of fertilization and implantation; new methods of reproduction have been developed. These new reproductive technologies make possible new parenting arrangements, resetting the biological clock for women, selecting the timing of birth, sex and number of children, pre-implantation diagnosis and gene replacement. The new ways of making babies present women with a myriad of ethical, legal, social and psychological concerns. The total potential expenditures on the new reproductive technologies should not be underestimated. In the United States approximately one out of eight couples can be classified as infertile. It has been estimated that 70,000 American women a year seek to use these procedures. Implications of the new technologies allow the initial stages of pregnancy to occur in a glass jar. Thus not only do they enable a child to have up to five parents, but they make possible a change in the mechanism and timing of reproduction, as well as certain kinds of testing and intervention.
