Short Story No Woman Can Get Pregnant Without 9-Months of Illness

December 31, 2014 10:41 PM

Years ago, I read a short story about two biologists (geneticists?) who are friends. After a global plague that makes all women infertile, one of the geneticists devices a treatment in which women can again reproduce, but they spend their entire nine months of pregnancy with blue, flaking, itchy skin and extreme sickness. The second geneticist realizes that the first has actually devised both the plague and the cure. He asks his friend why he did it. "Because I never wanted another child to be born unwanted," the first geneticist replies. I probably remember some of this imperfectly, but that was the gist of it. Does anyone happen to know the author/title? Thanks in advance!
posted by Chasuk to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

This page has a list of books (and summaries) that have similar plot lines, but I don't see the one you're describing. Worth a look, though, in case there's something there I'm not seeing...
posted by richmondparker at 11:15 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Someone mentioned this same book on another site several years ago:

"There's a Frank Herbert novel, called "The White Plague" IIRC, which was about this very idea. The sterility inflicted was reversible, by only by a very labor-intensive process which absolutely mandated the voluntary, committed efforts of two human beings, one being the pregnant woman, to accomplish. The idea was that it was now only possible to have a child if you really, really wanted one."

It's not actually "The White Plague", but you might check other Frank Herbert titles.
posted by richmondparker at 11:27 AM on January 7, 2015