From a purely medical perspective, infertility is “the inability to conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse or the inability to carry a pregnancy to term” (INCID 1997).

Infertility however, has also become a symbol of the lifestyle and social values adopted by white baby boomers. While some theories suggest that the documented increase in infertility may result from environmental toxins affecting both men and women, infertility is often viewed popularly as the cost to women of choosing career over family.

By postponing childbirth until thirty-five years and older, women are placed at a statistically higher risk of infertility The difficulty and expense of adopting white infants has increased the demand for infertility treatment.

An array of fertility services such as infertility clinics, donor egg and surrogacy services, legal services, sperm banks, newsgroups and support organizations, as well as drug treatments, surgical procedures and assisted reproduction technologies (ART) have emerged to satisfy the growing demand for babies from the affluent middle class. This constellation of services and technologies embodies the modern paradox created by the desire for a scientific, technological fix to satisfy what appear to be traditional American family values. But this technological fix also touches upon the deeply felt dilemma that advances in science pose as infertility treatments, procedures and ARTs appear to be meddling with “nature” and “God’s work.”