Doctor Ferdinand Peeters. The Real Father of the Pill

Description

The story of doctor Ferdinand Peeters 1918-1998 and his role in the development of the pill has held Belgium in thrall for almost a decade. It is time to introduce the real father of the contraceptive pill to the rest of the world.After years of research, Belgian journalist Karl van den Broeck concluded that not the American Gregory Pincus was the inventor of the pill. His prototype had so many adverse effects that it wasnt a viable option in the long term. It was the Belgian doctor Ferdinand Peeters who, in 1959-1960, created the first clinically applicable contraceptive pill Anovlar. It was this pill that set the standard for all future pills to follow.Ferdinand Nand Peeters was a devout Catholic and during an audience with pope John XXIII, he urged that the church should sanction the use of the Pill. But when Paul VI decided in 1968 that birth control other than the practice of periodic abstinence would remain forbidden, doctor Peeters didnt breathe a word about his role in the development of the pill. Even his family was barely aware of it.InemThe Real Father of the Pillem, Karl van den Broeck tells the long hidden story behind this invention, a story of innovation and threats, of grateful women and papal ambivalence. With this book doctor Peeters is finally given the recognition he deserves.This book includes the documentaryemThe Real Father of the Pillem. More information can be found in the book.hr strongPraise and attention dutch editionstrongemstrongProf. Dr. Jean-Jacques Amystrong, former chief editor of The European Journal for Contraception and Reproductive Healthemp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;Nand Peeters, what a guy I sure would have liked to have known him betterquot;pstrongemInge Schelstraete in De Standaardemstrongp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;Somewhat to Van den Broecks own amazement, the listeners of Radio 1 even elected Anovlar, the Pill Nand Peeters helped develop, best Belgian invention of all times, trumping the saxophone and the praline. But Van den Broeck has provided compelling arguments for that claim in his articles and TV documentary.pstrongemJimmy Koppen, Humanistisch Vrijzinnige Verenigingemstrongp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;We can be very brief about this it is a wonderful book ... by its multitude of anecdotes, testimonies and its very thorough preparatory research, this book comes highly recommended for those who want to discover the forgotten history of something as familiar as the Pill.pemstrongHollands Dagbladstrongemp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;The authors story about how Peeters developed his Pill in Roman-Catholic Belgium is both captivating and extensive.pemstrongKerknetstrongemp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;Van den Broecks book is a smooth read and gives insights both in the origin of the compound as in the motives of Peeters for working on it.pstrongemRik Torfs,emstrongemrector of the Catholic University of Leuvenemp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;Whats important for mankind is une vie courageuse. This courage has nothing to do with hara-kiri, with daredevilry or with climbing the barricades for ones own aggrandizement. What it is, is the continued, courageous search for the right path and finding it in the place where you happen to stand, in Turnhout, of all places, in the late Fifties, at a time when the pill is about to materialize and ecclesiastical morals are teetering, without striving for glory but without fear. That is what Nand Peeters has done and what has been described so fantastically well in this book.pstrongGriet Cnudde,strongemlawyer, in her laudation for Nand Peeters during the election of The Best Belgian Invention on Radio 1emp stylequot;padding-left 30px;quot;I cant believe that our fantastic Belgian inventor was ashamed of his invention, even though - in my view he made the most sublime discovery ever..phr strongKarl van den Broeckstrongis a journalist, who has worked for the Flemish newspaperemDe Morgenemfor almost twenty years as, among others, editor in charge of culture and books. From 2005 until 2011 he was chief editor of the weeklyemKnackem. Since 2014 he is chief editor of Apache.be, a news site dedicated to investigative journalism. He is the author of the non-fiction novelemWhy I want to save the Indiansemand childrens bookemThe bird in my hairem. He lives in Turnhout, the town where Dr. Ferdinand Peeters worked and died.ISBN 9789463713009