Missing Mother? Reproductive Technologies into the 21st Century

Abstract

Twentieth-century reproductive technologies² appear to have revolutionized pregnancy in the western world. What was once a mysterious event unfolding unseen within a woman’s body is now largely a medical event subject to much scrutiny and surveillance. The cover of Life magazine on April 30, 1965 (Stabile 1994: 76) featured, in the caption’s words, a ‘living 18-week-old fetus inside its amniotic sac’. This kind of image, which must have been astounding at this time, is relatively commonplace in the late 1990s. But what do we see? A recognizable human baby/fetus — sex unclear — eyes closed — arms huddled up to its chest — seemingly perfectly formed - fitting snugly in the amniotic sac, its head and feet stretching the outer walls of the sac but firmly attached to it via the twirling umbilical cord. What is missing? Where is the mother?

We don’t want anyone to look inside us, since it’s not a pretty sight in there

(Wittgenstein, quoted in Brod and Kaufmann 1994: vii)¹