Mary Lake Polan

Mary Lake Polan (born 1943) is an American obstetrician and gynecologist whose research on genetics and hormones involved in reproductive endocrinology, along with her fiction and non-fiction books on related subjects, helped normalize the general public's understanding of in-vitro fertilization during the 1970s through the 1990s. A Las Vegan, she grew up in the aftermath of World War II in a large Jewish family and developed an interest in medicine due to her father's work in ophthalmology.

Having a varied education at several institutions growing up, along with multiple trips abroad to Europe to study, Polan eventually began doing research and teaching at Yale and Stanford. She would continue doing international trips to both learn about and spread knowledge of reproductive medicine to other countries, including Iran, China, and Eritrea. In 1988, she published a popular science mystery novel that went into detail on how in-vitro fertilization is practiced, giving insights that lessened public fears about the new technologies involved.

A member of multiple professional societies and organizations, she was also made a member of multiple governmental committees and organization boards involved in women's medicine and health. She was named a "Giant in Obstetrics and Gynecology" by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2022 for her work.

Childhood and education Early years Born in 1943

Degrees and abroad For university, she attended Connecticut College to receive her bachelor's degree, though made several trips abroad for the learning experience. Her freshman year as a part of the "Experiment in International Living" program had her travel to Switzerland. Then, in her junior year, she went to Paris, France as a part of the Smith College Junior Year Abroad Program. She continued with her studies at Yale University's School of Medicine and received a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry five years later in 1970. Starting a postdoctoral fellowship in the Yale lab of Joseph G. Gall, she researched how to isolate the circular components found in the mitochondrial DNA of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. The new discoveries in infertility technologies had Polan start a reproductive endocrinology fellowship with Nathan Kase and Alan DeCherney.

Stanford professorship and appointments After leaving her position at Yale in 1990, Polan and her family moved to Palo Alto, California where she became a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the department chair for obstetrics and gynecology. She was also awarded the position as the Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor. While conducting her work as professor, she also joined the company boards of Wyeth and Quidel. Mystery novels and shows were also a favored pastime, with Murder, She Wrote being her favorite television series, thus she chose to combine her desire of medicine in fiction with a mystery setting.

She published Second Seed in 1988, basing the story around ideas she had while teaching in Shiraz during her time in Iran. She began composing the structure of the story near the end of 1984 through the use of a dictaphone before having a transcription made by a hired secretary that Polan then edited digitally. The first few chapters were finished by February 1985, which led her to approach the publisher Charles Scribner's Sons. The company approved her manuscript and awarded her a contract in January 1986 after she had completed most of the book. Her goal with the book was to "demystify" the procedures behind in-vitro fertilization and showcase the kind of medicine that is done at infertility centers.

Polan then began writing in 2002 the pieces that would become A Doctor's Journey: What I Learned about Women, Healing and Myself in Eritrea. Based around the time period she spent on the women's project in Eritrea, it focuses on the experiences and stories of the doctors and nurses in the country and the relationship they formed with the American doctors involved in the project.

Organizations Polan is a member of multiple professional academic organizations. As a committee chair, she has help positions in the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American Medical Women's Association. She has also been made a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Given the Connecticut College Medal in 1992, she was recognized by the college as someone whose efforts has helped improve the recognition of the organization, due to her years of serving as an emeritus trustee. She was also chosen by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology as a "Giant in Obstetrics and Gynecology" and a member of their journal series on such individuals.

Personal life Polan married professor of pediatric dermatology Joseph Smith McGuire after having him as a mentor at Yale University. They had three children together.