In Fertility: 40 Years of Change, lawyer and author Maureen McTeer explores key medical, research, and legal developments in assisted human reproduction since the birth of the first IVF baby in 1978. With keen insight, she analyses how Canada has responded to the many legal and societal opportunities this foundational reproductive technology has created, such as new types of human relationships; the treatment of infertility; human embryo research; and the revolutionary possibilities for society raised by the combination of reproductive and genetic technologies, as we create, manipulate, and alter human life in the laboratory. Reviews: “I share with Maureen McTeer the overarching goal to make information on the ethical, legal and social challenges of reproductive and genetic technologies and research readily available to all Canadians.” Françoise Baylis, CM, ONS, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS University Research Professor, Dalhousie University; author of Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing “In this very informative, accessible, and well-written book on assisted human reproductive and genetic technologies and research, author and lawyer Maureen McTeer tells the story of how we got here and challenges us to look into the future. This is an exceptional book on complex health policy questions.” Dr. Arthur Leader, Emeritus Professor Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa About the Author: For more than four decades, Maureen McTeer has been a leading advocate and role model for gender equality in Canada. She remains a strong advocate for greater public funding for all aspects of women’s health and care, and a staunch defender of women’s health and reproductive rights. She is an expert on medical law and public policy, was an original member of the federal Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, and was a member of the Global Commission on Pollution, Health and Development. Her interests and activism span a wide range of social, legal, and ethical issues, where science and society intersect. As a dedicated social activist, Ms. McTeer urges Canadians to participate actively in shaping policies and laws that affect them and others in their communities. Leading by example, she has served on many not-for-profit boards, including as co-chair of the National Experts Commission of the Canadian Nurses Association; as a founding member and chair of the Advisory Board of the Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre in Ottawa; as a lay member of the National Council of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada and of the Accreditation Committee of Canadian Medical Schools; as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Heart Institute; as the Canadian representative of the international White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood; and as the national patron of the Canadian Osteoporosis Society. |