A woman’s recent birth of octuplets through embryonic implantation has the nation abuzz with issues related to morality and reproduction. What would the nation’s first fertility doctor think?
Rutgers–Camden historian Dr. Margaret Marsh recently published the only biography on the inventor of the birth control pill and founder of in vitro fertilization: physician John Rock.
The Fertility Doctor: John Rock and the Reproductive Revolution (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), examines how Rock was the first to fertilize a human egg outside the body in 1944 and co-developed the oral contraceptive in the 1950s. These medical advancements have defined how we view matters related to reproduction.
Marsh, who serves as interim chancellor at Rutgers–Camden, and her sister, Dr. Wanda Ronner, a clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, are the first scholars to examine Rock’s personal family papers, which included diaries, patient records, and correspondence with men and women from all walks of life around the nation and throughout the world.
Marsh is available to discuss how Rock’s inventions continue to impact sexuality and family planning today. She also can discuss how Rock, a devout Catholic, came into conflict with Pope Paul VI in defending the pill as a natural means to ending poverty worldwide.
Office: (856) 225-6095
Email: mailto:mmarsh@camden.rutgers.edu
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Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627 (office)
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu