A Scientific Sarah

A seventy-year-old woman has given birth in India, becoming the world’s “newest oldest mom”:

To Bishnoi [the couple’s fertility doctor], it’s a triumph over ignorant fatalism and prejudice. “The couple said they were facing social stigma for being childless for the last 55 years,” the Times of India reports. Those bad old days of blaming women for infertility may soon come to an end. Bishnoi concludes: “IVF has revolutionized the way we looked at infertility. Infertility is no longer a social taboo or a divine curse. It can be treated scientifically.”

Modern-day science seems to be screaming “Yes we can!” in an effort to drown out the quiet voice of conscience that asks “Should we?” As Slate ‘s William Saletan puts it :

Maybe, as we extend our reach in this area, we’ll learn to control it. We’ll stop seeing infertility as a binary struggle between cultural fatalism and scientific treatment. We’ll see an ecology of procreation and parenting, with some boundaries worth respecting, even when we know how to defeat them.