Speaker Addresses Biotechnology and Society

By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/27/03)

What is a "good baby?" According to Dr. Amy Laura Hall, our culture often defines a "good baby" as "one who sleeps through the night."

"This inquiry is culturally particular and deserves our attention," she said. Why is this presently the marker for an excellent infant? How have developments in our culture generally and biotechnology in particular shaped ‘commonsense’ notions of basic baby —and childcare?"

Hall is assistant professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., and is currently researching the transforming effect of reproductive technologies on society’s ideas of parenthood and childhood. Her forthcoming book, Conceiving Parenthood, traces how culture and the emergence of scientific technologies have impacted current attitudes toward parenting and child-rearing, and how they have also created new medical and ethical dilemmas.

Hall recently presented some findings of her research as part of an ongoing lecture series on technology and society at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

The "corporate breast" is the term Hall uses to describe the shift toward artificial infant nourishing that began around the turn of the last century. Hall suggested that scientists’ questioning the reliability of breast milk and the subsequent development of infant formula has ultimately led to increased "medicalization of childhood moods, behaviors, stages and the consumer demand for pediatric enhancement therapies." Hall presented a range of advertisements and articles from throughout the last century as evidence of shifting trends in childrearing practices, longer workdays and less parental leave.

Hall said the popular fascination with genetic manipulation can be compared to the way the atom came to symbolize progress and the "nuclear family" during the 1950s. Examining the way genomics is marketed to the public, she shows how the double helix has become a similar icon for hope and progress that is changing the way we understand ourselves.

Other topics included the connection between the "fitter family movement" that flourished in the U.S. prior to WWII and eugenics, and how reproductive and prenatal technologies influence the process of adoption. Throughout her work, Hall drew on examples from popular media and other sources to document the rise of medical technological consumerism and the moral and ethical challenges that result.

In addition to her work as an author and professor, Hall is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church and serves on the UMC Bioethics Task Force.

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