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'In vitro fertilisation'is a series of technological procedures designed by medical scientists to intervene in, alter and extract parts of the bodies and to interfere with the reproductive processes of women. It has been offered, received and lauded by medical scientists, the press and various government committees as' progress', as caring, and as a response to the needs and demands of infertile couples. Representations of, descriptions of and public debates about'in vitro fertilisation'have been dominated by a rhetoric of benevolence and remarkably lacking in critical assessment, particularly regarding its impact on women's health and autonomy. Feminist challenges and resistance to this a priori assumption of medical scientific beneficence and particularly our attempts to re-orient analysis of'in vitro fertilisation'in terms of women's reproductive rights and women's liberation, generally have not been given recognition or …