The Making of the Unborn Patient: A Social Anatomy of Fetal Surgery

I found this book to be a fascinating read, from the astounding photo of a fetal foot extended by surgeons' hands from the blank field of a woman's belly, to the behind the scenes look at research ethics. Casper put this experimental work in the context of fetal politics, a needed alternative to the perspective that views virtually all new medical procedures as "miracles." We need more, and more informed, public dialogue about medical experimentation, and we need more studies like Casper's. Her book is richly detailed, politically incisive, and historically and culturally informed. Few readers will be disappointed.

I read this book because someone close to me had started working in a hospital that does this type of surgery, and told me some interesting stories. The book really opened my eyes to how fetal surgery and other medical practices are developed. After talking to my friend about it more, I was amazed to find that the types of things described in this book (basically experimenting on patients) are still going on! I think the previous reviewer must either be totally clueless, or is intentially trashing the book because he or she is is somehow invested in fetal surgery and is thus trying to squelsh criticism. Or maybe that person didn't want the moral implications of the issues raised in this book to be discussed. If you are at all interested in this issue, you have got to read this.