Mary Barton (obstetrician)

Mary Barton
Born(1905-03-01)1 March 1905
Lowestoft
Died1990
Scientific career
FieldsObstetrics, Fertility, Artificial insemination
InstitutionsRoyal Free Hospital

Mary Barton (1 March 1905 – 1990) was a British obstetrician who, in the 1930s, founded one of the first fertility clinics in England to offer donor insemination.[1] Throughout her career, Barton studied infertility and conception. Her pioneering research and practice were inspired by experience as a medical missionary in India, where she saw the harsh treatment of childless women.

At the time, infertility was widely believed to be the woman's fault. Barton understood that both men and women could be infertile. Both the identification of the male as an infertile partner and the introduction of treatments that used "instrumental insemination"[2]: 10  met with strong social disapproval. This was true even when using the husband's sperm, a process known as artificial insemination by husband, or AIH. Artificial insemination by donor, AID, was even more contentious, raising questions of adultery, illegitimacy, and perjury. This led to practices of secrecy.[3][2][4]

In one of her research papers on fertility and conception, Barton reports successfully treating over 1,000 women using AID, 600 cases between 1944 and 1954 and another 431 women from 1955 to the end of December 1962.[5] Thousands more women were treated at her clinic for AIH.[6]

Barton's second husband, sex researcher Bertold Wiesner, is believed to have been in charge of recruiting sperm donors for Barton's clinic.[7][8]: 213–214  He and a small number of other donors may have provided the majority of the sperm used, resulting in the birth of hundreds of half-siblings, most of whom had no knowledge of their conception. The clinic's patient records were destroyed, but DNA testing has identified groups of half-siblings. The Barton clinic has been the subject of the documentaries Offspring (2001) and Bio-Dad (2009) by Barry Stevens[9][10][11] and of a play by Maud Dromgoole.[12][13]

  1. ^ Davis, Gayle (2017). "'A Tragedy as Old as History': Medical Responses to Infertility and Artificial Insemination by Donor in 1950s Britain". The Palgrave Handbook of Infertility in History (PDF). Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 359–382. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52080-7_19. hdl:20.500.11820/51291d31-92bc-4d29-893e-987e5c7a8cf5. ISBN 978-1-137-52080-7. PMID 30354044.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Allan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Blyth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Frith, Lucy (2 October 2015). "What do we mean by 'proper' medical treatment?". In Fovargue, Sara; Mullock, Alexandra (eds.). The Legitimacy of Medical Treatment : What Role for the Medical Exception?. London: Routledge. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9781138819634. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barton1968 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ St. John-Stevas, Norman (2002). Life, Death and the Law: Law and Christian Morals in England and the United States. Beard Books. p. 119. ISBN 9781258192587. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  7. ^ Mandal, Ananya (9 April 2012). "Sperm donor found to have fathered 600 babies". News Medical Life Sciences. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference McLaren was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Offspring (2001)". Bioethics Research Library of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University. 5 September 2001. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  10. ^ Stevens, B. (2001). Offspring (Documentary Film). Toronto: Barna-Alper Productions Inc.
  11. ^ Stevens, B. (2009). Bio-Dad (Documentary Film). Toronto: Barna-Alper Productions Inc.
  12. ^ Neill, Heather (26 March 2019). "Mary's Babies, Jermyn Street Theatre review - rollercoaster investigation of early fertility treatment". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  13. ^ Dromgoole, Maud (21 March 2019). Mary's Babies. Nick Hern Books, Limited.