FETAL SUBJECTS AND MATERNAL OBJECTS - REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND THENEW FETAL MATERNAL RELATION/

This essay examines three tendencies nurtured in the practices of repr oductive technology - tendencies with profoundly disturbing implicatio ns for us as individuals and as social beings. They are: 1) the increa sing subjectification of the fetus (that is, the increasing tendency t o posit a fetal subject), 2) the increasing objectification of the ges tating woman, leading to her representation as interchangeable object rather than unique subject, and 3) the increasing tendency to conceive of the fetus and the mother as social, medical, and legal antagonists . Considering the construction of fetus, mother, and the fetal/materna l relation in earlier (Western) historical periods, a contemporary wor k of literature, a government report, and the popular press, I argue t hat as the fetus is increasingly being understood as a subject, the mo ther is increasingly being reduced to an antagonist, an obstacle to fe tal health, and an object. The essay concludes by offering some tentat ive conclusions about the general process of fetal subjectification in the United States and Europe.