I don't remember when I first learned about in vitro fertilization. I assume it was either in the comments of feminist blogs or on a Real Housewives franchise. Nor do I know what I really would have understood at the time that I first learned about. But I'm a woman in my 30s who has had her own experiences with the challenges of pregnancy. So while I haven't gone through IVF, it's been something I've thought more about lately. There's both the often expensive and grueling process of IVF itself. But also, I've been really curious about how it fits in with this fascinating (and at times, frustrating) history of how we understand pregnancy and people's experience with it.
So when one of our Tiny Matters listeners asked how people even came up with IVF, I was really excited to be able to dig into that history. Working on this episode taught me so much, from the role of communication from medical professionals to the cultural differences that have shaped who makes what kind of advances in IVF. I got to talk to so many people who work in and study IVF for this episode, and I really wish I could have included everything I learned. But for now, I really hop[e you'll listen to this episode because I think it will help with coming to a better understanding of the really important significant challenges around IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies.
