Nadia Maria Filippini, To beget, to give birth, to be born. A story from ancient times to the test-tube

Abstract

The volume, based on a wide review of historical, anthropological and sociological research and on numerous original sources, relates the story of human reproduction from ancient times to nowadays. The Author analyzes centuries of cultural representations of begetting, giving birth and being born, as well as policies to regulate and control human reproduction, up to the feminist claim to self-determination in the Seventies and to the new opportunities introduced in recent times by scientific and technological progress, such as IVF.