{"id":4932,"date":"2016-09-15T12:04:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T06:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?p=4932"},"modified":"2016-09-15T12:04:44","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T06:34:44","slug":"review-politics-of-the-womb-by-pinki-virani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2016\/09\/15\/review-politics-of-the-womb-by-pinki-virani\/","title":{"rendered":"Review : Politics of the Womb by Pinki Virani"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote this for She the People<\/strong><\/a>, earlier this week<\/p>\n

Many years ago, I read Margaret Atwood\u2019s<\/b><\/a>, dystopian novel, Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/b><\/a>. Set around a plausible tomorrow, it looks at a world where fertility has plummeted, and there are a special category of women\u00a0\u00a0 who are kept especially for reproductive purposes. As I read the \u201cPolitics of the Womb<\/a><\/b>\u201d by Pinki Virani<\/a><\/strong> a frightening today began to emerge. Where there are women, whose only value to the world seems to be the eggs that she produces, the uterus that she has, and the womb that she rents.<\/p>\n

A riot, in very slow motion, is being engineered on the woman inside her body; to take her apart, part by profitable part.<\/i><\/p>\n

The slow rampage is in the name of God \u2013 for hers is the womb and she shall conceive.<\/i><\/p>\n

In the name of science \u2013 for hers is the hostile uterus and medical evaluation must arbitrate. \u2026\u2026The world over, the combined might of religion and science has converged to martial many a uterus with a child. At any cost; to the woman, to her baby.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The opening lines of Pinki Virani\u2019s long hard look at the surrogacy industry, hits you in the gut, and pulls you into a narrative structure that takes you into the universe of uterus pimp; the woman (who is the walking uterus; IVF clinics that charge, and charge, and charge;\u00a0 the desperate, would be,\u00a0 parents who want to have a biological child; and the mad rush for designer babies. Politics of the Womb \u2013 The Perils of IVF, Surrogacy and Modified Babies is both a behind the scenes look at the new industry that seems to have grown without regulation;\u00a0 the ethics of such work; and a normative framework for regulation. It is also a manifesto of the rights of the unborn child. Someone has to speak for the child, and Ms Virani makes a very strong case for children born of IVF.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The books looks at how expensive\u00a0 IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) treatment\u00a0 is being pushed as the first option, on desperate parents, when there are a gamut of other options, that could spare the prospective parents both an expensive bill, as well as physical and mental trauma. There is between 72-80% failure rate per IVF cycle. Less than a third of people who start the IVF treatment, come away with a baby. The costs-\u00a0 financial, physical and emotional \u2013 are seldom publicized or discussed. And, all this in the backdrop of an \u00a0industry that sells a myth of fertility, and downplays the medical risks both to the mother and those that may occur to the child. Virani\u00a0 looks at the data surrounding IVF and birth defects, that leads to children being born autistic, and\u00a0 with mental retardation. The risk of babies conceived through Ivf or Icsi (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) is 37% higher than babies conceived naturally. \u201cCollateral damage\u201d says a doctor, on the side effects, and birth defects.<\/p>\n

Virani\u2019s anger against the commoditization of the uterus, and its commercialization, is palpable. When she quotes doctors, involved in the baby making business,\u00a0 she lets their callousness and utter disregard for the woman\u2019s body, and the reproductive process , stay there unvarnished. \u201cWhat is a uterus, it is like a room. Repaint, redecorate any number of times\u201d\u2019, Virani quotes a doctor saying.<\/p>\n

Surrogacy is in the news of late, because of the bill being discussed in Parliament, as well as the Government\u2019s banning of commercial surrogacy. In light of the high pitched conversations around this topic, it might be worthwhile to read the \u201cPolitics of the Womb\u201d to look at the issue in a holistic manner.<\/p>\n

\"412nppi0ycl\"<\/p>\n

(Politics of the Womb; The Perils of IVF, Surrogacy & Modified Babies; by Pinki Virani; Viking; Rs 599; Pages 304)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote this for She the People, earlier this week Many years ago, I read Margaret Atwood\u2019s, dystopian novel, Handmaid\u2019s Tale. 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