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Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite
Karen A. Wyle's Donation is an intriguing near-future science fiction novel about artificial uterine technology and the complex legal and ethical issues that arise for families who use it. The government's Bureau of Reproductive Safety oversees the clinic providing women with a safe artificial incubation environment for their unborn babies. The biological mother can choose to give up her baby by "donating" the baby for adoption, but she loses all access to the child. Toni Greene is a young woman who sculpts wood carvings for a living. When she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant, she donates her unborn baby for adoption through the Bureau. Increasingly doubtful about her decision, she seeks advice from her mother Valerie, a successful and highly-regarded family law attorney. Can Toni stop the adoption process and have her baby returned to her? Valerie thinks Toni has a constitutional right to raise her baby and files a ground-breaking lawsuit against the Bureau.
From the outset, I was fascinated by Karen A. Wyle's Donation and the compelling theme of families who want safe delivery for their unborn babies, their constitutional rights, and the consequences of government-controlled artificial uterine technology. I liked the remarkable characters whose individual stories vividly illustrate the strong issues of family and family law. I particularly liked the transformative journey that Toni Greene goes through, from that initial donation of her unborn child to her commitment to raising her baby. The other characters turned the novel into a multifaceted one about single mothers, adoptive parents, and parents who want to save their babies from miscarriages or premature birth. The drama of the courtroom settings with the federal court judge, the attorneys, the plaintiffs, and the defendants adds greatly to the story's suspense. For me, the most intense and courageous transformative journey is that of Poloma Clark, an administrator at the Bureau of Reproductive Safety, who questions the Bureau's new policies. This is a well-crafted science fiction and family law novel, a page-turner, and a challenging and thought-provoking read!
