Global IVF, Infertility, and Emergency Contraception in the Middle East and North Africa

The three works under review address sterility, fertility, and pregnancy and offer Middle Eastern and North African perspectives on the experience of childlessness and reproductive technologies. They examine in vitro fertilization (IVF) and emergency contraception (EC) as elements of population health and reproductive politics in the Middle East and North Africa. These are women’s issues, for it is usually women who decide whether to pursue IVF, women’s bodies on which such technologies are applied, and women who become pregnant. Legal and cultural debates around reproductive technologies often reproduce gendered expectations regarding sexuality and motherhood. In combination the books examined offer a layered approach that will interest global public health experts as well as feminist scholars focused on global reproductive politics, governance, equity, and human rights. Situated in global health debates, the books share a positive view of IVF as a medical technology that empowers women. Global IVF is controversial because...