In March of 1985, New York State's Governor Cuomo convened a Task Force on Life and the Law, to deal with issues such as organ transplantation, determining death, the "new reproductive technologies," and other issues devolving from advancements in medical technology. This slender volume (139 pages plus an Appendix, "Proposed Surrogate Parenting Act"), published in May of 1988, is one product of the Task Force's deliberations.
Packed into its two parts is some quite concentrated material. Part I, "The Medical, Legal and Social Context," deals with infertility (chapter 1), "Assisted Reproduction," (chapter 2), and the applicability of New York State family law to questions of surrogacy. In more detail, chapter 1 raises the question of why the public is not more educated about treatable causes of infertility, pointing out that sexually transmitted diseases, for example, may account for a potentially preventable 20% of the infertility statistics. Chapter 2 presents brief,