First Test-Tube Babies as Technopolitical Tuners

• In Event: Reproductive Governance in East Asia

Abstract

This paper argues the importance of researching a nation’s “first test-tube baby” as the fruitful site to unravel the dynamics of reproductive politics. I argue that the voices center upon the first IVF case not only reflect the nature of sociotechnical system, but also work to shape the reproductive governance. I conceptualize the event as “technopolitical tuner”, which receives multiple decoding of the innovation, and then sets the major tune for further processing. It should be an important research agenda to open the black box of the technopolitical tuner to understand the diverse configuration of IVF in each country.

I use the cases in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea to illustrate the point. In Japan, the first test-tube baby was born in a non-leading medical college of Tohoku University in 1983. While the medical societies were negotiating the ethical guideline and some prestigious medical centers were waiting for the rule, Dr. Suzuk took the lead to announce the success of first test-tube babies. This intensified the controversy, and led to the strong self-regulation of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG) by making registry, reporting, and ethical statement. By contrast, the first test-tube baby in Taiwan, born in 1985, was celebrated as the national achievement, and thus transformed IVF from a potentially controversy technoscience into a glorious innovation fitting for Taiwan’s national sociotechnical imaginaries. This paves the way for doctors-led governmental regulation. The first test-tube baby was born in South Korea, half year later. Due to the fear against the population control policy, Dr. Kim of Seoul National University Hospital kept it as low profile by claiming it for personal scientific curiosity. Neither the government nor the medical society took action in regulating IVF. The attuning power of the first-test-tube-baby event impels the contour of reproductive governance.

Author

• Chia-Ling Wu, National Taiwan University