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Conception: A Fertility Doctor's Memoir
Conception - A Fertility Doctor's Memoir will describe the history of IVF and the world it made from someone who has been practicing since its earliest days. It will describe how Dr. Merle Berger first got interested in becoming a doctor, then an obstetrician and gynecologist and finally a specialist in reproductive medicine and infertility as well as a fierce woman's health care advocate. The book will give readers necessary perspective on where this medical technology came from and how quickly it has advanced, and it will lay out many of the ethical conundrums we will face in the coming decades. It will appeal to anyone who has considered IVF in the past 40 years, and those who wonder if they will ever need it in the future. It will also likely appeal to those who have reservations about assisted reproduction and how it has so dramatically moved a fundamental human act out of the bedroom and into the lab, even as it has stoked our fears about designer babies. Conception will help people to understand the headlines we read every day about egg-freezing technology and the way in which celebrities over 45 get pregnant. ( they use donor eggs.) It will make readers fluent in the technologies that will shape reproduction in the coming decades. It will more fully trace the way in which sex was decoupled from reproduction in the 20th century, and it will outline how reproduction might be separated from eggs and sperm in the near future. What lies ahead is thrilling to contemplate and even a little bit frightening. But when we have context for these discussions, readers will be able to make the choices that are best for them.
78 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 27, 2020
‘Gene editing has the potential to eliminate thousands of serious medical conditions’
Massachusetts physician/author Dr. Merle Berger offers a profoundly insightful and sensitive book on reproduction that serves a prescient vantage from which to view the world of tomorrow in terms of population and choices and the art of reproduction. Trained at Western Reserve University, he is board certified in both Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, having completed his training at Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland, Harvard Medical School, and Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He is the co-founder of Boston IVF and President of the Boston Fertility Society.
In an obviously warm bedside manner Dr. Berger shares his views on conception in his introductory comments: ‘The need or desire to reproduce is the strongest altruistic drive we have…Hopefully, this memoir will elucidate the great changes that have occurred [since 1962] concerning how people deal with the incredible drive to reproduce, or in some cases to avoid doing so…What lies ahead is thrilling to contemplate, even if a bit frightening. The ability to select gender, for instance, is already here and is relatively simple, but it may be possible in the future to select many other traits such as eye color, height, and even intelligence. We can prevent many genetic diseases by embryo testing, and very recently scientists have been able to alter genes in both animal and human embryos thus raising the incredible possibility of eliminating all genetic diseases from mankind…’
This opening statement begins one of the most impressive and accurate discussions about In Vitro Fertilization, made more comprehensible with Dr. Berger’s personalizing the subject by sharing his growth in that field. He brings the topic of infertility into focus, including the stressors both members of the couples under his care face. Offering a fine history of IVF and then discussing all aspects of the process in easily accessible terms – sperm and egg donation, techniques of implantation, embryo freezing, surrogacy, and even same-sex reproduction – he explains IVF in a comprehensible manner.
CONCEPTION is a must-read book for all medical students and healthcare providers, so informed and diligently presented is the subject of IVF. But also, this book serves as a ‘think tank’ for population control activists, men and women approaching the choices of starting families, and philosophers who cogitate on the world of tomorrow. This is an enriching and fascinating book by an enlightened physician and human being. Very highly recommended.
Massachusetts physician/author Dr. Merle Berger offers a profoundly insightful and sensitive book on reproduction that serves a prescient vantage from which to view the world of tomorrow in terms of population and choices and the art of reproduction. Trained at Western Reserve University, he is board certified in both Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, having completed his training at Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland, Harvard Medical School, and Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He is the co-founder of Boston IVF and President of the Boston Fertility Society.
In an obviously warm bedside manner Dr. Berger shares his views on conception in his introductory comments: ‘The need or desire to reproduce is the strongest altruistic drive we have…Hopefully, this memoir will elucidate the great changes that have occurred [since 1962] concerning how people deal with the incredible drive to reproduce, or in some cases to avoid doing so…What lies ahead is thrilling to contemplate, even if a bit frightening. The ability to select gender, for instance, is already here and is relatively simple, but it may be possible in the future to select many other traits such as eye color, height, and even intelligence. We can prevent many genetic diseases by embryo testing, and very recently scientists have been able to alter genes in both animal and human embryos thus raising the incredible possibility of eliminating all genetic diseases from mankind…’
This opening statement begins one of the most impressive and accurate discussions about In Vitro Fertilization, made more comprehensible with Dr. Berger’s personalizing the subject by sharing his growth in that field. He brings the topic of infertility into focus, including the stressors both members of the couples under his care face. Offering a fine history of IVF and then discussing all aspects of the process in easily accessible terms – sperm and egg donation, techniques of implantation, embryo freezing, surrogacy, and even same-sex reproduction – he explains IVF in a comprehensible manner.
CONCEPTION is a must-read book for all medical students and healthcare providers, so informed and diligently presented is the subject of IVF. But also, this book serves as a ‘think tank’ for population control activists, men and women approaching the choices of starting families, and philosophers who cogitate on the world of tomorrow. This is an enriching and fascinating book by an enlightened physician and human being. Very highly recommended.
July 10, 2020
Merle J. Berger is the author of Conception - A Fertility Doctor's Memoir, an interesting, informative and really helpful book about conception. This non-fiction piece of work is written for a general audience but really captivating for anyone who has considered in vitro fertility. It tells the memories of Merle Berger, a fertility doctor. He is top-notch in this issue and this makes the things easier to understand. Reproductive medicine is in charge of the male and female reproductive systems and it encompasses a variety of conditions.
Undoubtedly, this book serves as a useful resource material for reflection on the quickly and enormous advance of the reproductive medicine which allows the development of artificial reproductive techniques. Through an interactive form of narration, the author invites us to think how difficult life is for infertile women due to all the processes they have to follow to have a child.
I would thoroughly recommend this book. I found it really helpful and inspiring.
Undoubtedly, this book serves as a useful resource material for reflection on the quickly and enormous advance of the reproductive medicine which allows the development of artificial reproductive techniques. Through an interactive form of narration, the author invites us to think how difficult life is for infertile women due to all the processes they have to follow to have a child.
I would thoroughly recommend this book. I found it really helpful and inspiring.
July 10, 2020
Conception: A Fertility Doctor's Memoir by Dr. Merle J Berger begins with why and how he entered a unique and gratifying field of medicine when IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) was first established. He explains the changes as they came about and his investment in families. The process can be controversial, but the author focuses mostly on the advantages of the work he has performed and invested in.
I found Conception: A Fertility Doctor's Memoir interesting and informative. There are a few issues in which I disagree with the author, Dr. Merle J Berger. I understand his job is to provide healthy children to couples, but I feel it shuns the blessing a special needs child could bring to a family. There are two sides to this coin. The doctor is sensitive enough to understand the emotional state woman experience through some of the trials and errors. I believe Dr. Berger desires to do what is best and shows people the true side to fertility.
I found Conception: A Fertility Doctor's Memoir interesting and informative. There are a few issues in which I disagree with the author, Dr. Merle J Berger. I understand his job is to provide healthy children to couples, but I feel it shuns the blessing a special needs child could bring to a family. There are two sides to this coin. The doctor is sensitive enough to understand the emotional state woman experience through some of the trials and errors. I believe Dr. Berger desires to do what is best and shows people the true side to fertility.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews