Sex in an age of technological reproduction

by Carl Djerassi

"Two of the most startling developments in contemporary science have radically disrupted the historical connection between sex and reproduction: in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) - an assisted reproductive technique that directly injects a single sperm into an egg. The word play ICSI - designed for classroom readings - presents, in the format of a contentious talk-show dialogue, the science of direct-injection fertilization and the ethical issues connected with it. A DVD included in the book provides video of the ICSI injection process as viewed through a microscope, to be used in performances of the ICSI one-act dialogue. Taboos, a full-length play, turns the screws on characters that reflect a polarized America. Two couples - lesbian partners and a conservative husband and wife struggling with infertility - must make choices in a drama that examines the disjunction of sexual reproduction and the physical act of sex."--Jacket.