Selective Reproduction in the 21st Century

Description

This book explores how conditions for childbearing are changing in the 21st century under the impact of new biomedical technologies. Selective reproductive technologies (SRTs) - technologies that aim to prevent or promote the birth of particular kinds of children – are increasingly widespread across the globe. Wahlberg and Gammeltoft bring together a collection of essays providing unique ethnographic insights on how SRTs are made available within different cultural, socio-economic and regulatory settings and how people perceive and make use of these new possibilities as they envision and try to form their future lives. Topics covered include sex-selective abortions, termination of pregnancies following detection of fetal anomalies during prenatal screening, the development of preimplantation genetic diagnosis techniques as well as the screening of potential gamete donors by egg agencies and sperm banks. This is invaluable reading for scholars of medical anthropology, medical sociology and science and technology studies, as well as for the fields of gender studies, reproductive health and genetic disease research. Read more... Abstract: This book explores how conditions for childbearing are changing in the 21st century under the impact of new biomedical technologies. This is invaluable reading for scholars of medical anthropology, medical sociology and science and technology studies, as well as for the fields of gender studies, reproductive health and genetic disease research. Read more... Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Kinds of Children (Ayo Wahlberg, Tine M. Gammeltoft)....Pages 1-24 Front Matter ....Pages 25-25 Coping with Sex-Selective Abortions in Vietnam: An Ethnographic Study of Selective Reproduction as Emotional Experience (Trần Minh Hằng)....Pages 27-44 The Development of Sex-Selective Reproductive Technologies Within Fertility, Inc. and the Anticipation of Lifestyle Sex Selection (Rajani Bhatia)....Pages 45-66 Front Matter ....Pages 67-67 Moral Adherers: Pregnant Women Undergoing Routine Prenatal Screening in Denmark (Laura Louise Heinsen)....Pages 69-95 Moral Bearing: The Paradox of Choice, Anxiety and Responsibility in Taiwan (Li-Wen Shih)....Pages 97-122 Selecting What? Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis and Screening Trajectories in Spain (Vincenzo Pavone, Sara Lafuente Funes)....Pages 123-148 Front Matter ....Pages 149-149 They Don’t Just Take a Random Egg: Egg Selection in the United States (Lauren Jade Martin)....Pages 151-170 Technologies of Enchantment: Commercial Surrogacy and Egg Donation in India (Michaela Stockey-Bridge)....Pages 171-192 Back Matter ....Pages 193-198