In vitro is worthy of a Nobel Prize, but that shouldn’t blind us to the havoc it’s caused. Debora Spar on how a lawless industry is spawning Octomoms, birth defects, and maternal deaths.
Debora L. Spar is president of Barnard College and the author of the forthcoming Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection (September). A political scientist by training, Spar is the author of numerous books, including Ruling the Waves: Cycles of Invention, Chaos, and Wealth from the Compass to the Internet and The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception. Prior to coming to Barnard, Spar was the Spangler Family Professor at Harvard Business School and Senior Associate Dean, Director of Research.