Chapter 7: Eggs forever^* or the Prospect of Regeneration

I had been in the world of reproductive medicine for a few months, when, in February 2012, I read newspaper and online article headlines stating that a Study claims ‘unlimited eggs’ possible (Hastings, 2012); Ovary stem cells can produce new human eggs, scientists say (Park, 2012); Egg-making stem cells found in adult ovaries: discovery could pave the way for new fertility treatments and a longer reproductive life (Powell, 2012); and What if women could produce oocytes their whole life? followed by the subtitle Fascinating. According to a study, it will soon be possible to create oocytes without age limits (Anonymous, 2012).¹ Illustrating the latter title, there was a black-and-white photograph of two old ladies, dressed in an old-fashioned way and wearing hats and glasses. They were shown knitting on a bench, with a small, blond child sitting between and slightly behind them. The women looked very old and it seemed obvious, from a common-sense perspective, that the child was not their own, creating thus a kind of humorous distance with the title that promised a new future for motherhood. Embedded in the language of potentiality (Taussig, Hoeyer, & Helmreich, 2013), these headlines and the picture indicated how the prospect of acting biotechnologically on reproductive ageing has raised imaginary futures where postmenopausal mothers might become the new normal, but also might not, as the gap between a biotechnologically driven future promising lifelong fertility and the reality of daily life seems too wide.