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“A spinster and a syringe”: Debating Test-Tube Babies

in Reproduction by Design: Sex, Robots, Trees, and Test-Tube Babies in Interwar Britain

This chapter approaches the issues discussed in this book in a roundabout fashion by exploring a relatively obscure Canadian court case. It addresses the ways in which commentators in the interwar ... More

This chapter approaches the issues discussed in this book in a roundabout fashion by exploring a relatively obscure Canadian court case. It addresses the ways in which commentators in the interwar years attributed enormous social significance to a rarely employed but simple form of medical treatment. The Orford trial is introduced. From the mid-1930s onward, the British tabloids started to report on “test-tube babies” in the United States. A number of writers had defended artificial insemination as a form of positive eugenics. In the 1940s, nothing could rival artificial insemination in better representing reproduction by design. In so doing, it dramatically showed the splitting of sex and reproduction. In the first half of the twentieth century when the procedure was only emerging, it was predictable that its defenders would seek to portray it in the most conservative of hues.Less

Artificial Insemination and the American Man

Carolyn Herbst Lewis

in Prescription for Heterosexuality: Sexual Citizenship in the Cold War Era

This chapter examines the discussions of artificial insemination in American medical journals throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, artificial insemination as a treatment for marital ... More

This chapter examines the discussions of artificial insemination in American medical journals throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, artificial insemination as a treatment for marital infertility was becoming increasingly available to American couples. The chapter describes how artificial insemination reinforced postwar gender ideology and undermined the structural framework of the American family, and examines the challenges to the legal, social, moral, and familial legitimacy of this procedure.Less

3 The Non-Consenting Man

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter discusses the paternity of the non-consenting husband in situations where the wife uses the sperm of a donor to conceive a child. The paternity of the woman's husband is determined by ... More

This chapter discusses the paternity of the non-consenting husband in situations where the wife uses the sperm of a donor to conceive a child. The paternity of the woman's husband is determined by focusing on his actions. In the majority of jurisdictions, if a man does not consent to the artificial insemination of his wife using another man's sperm, he is not the legal father of the resulting child. Most statutes require that the husband's consent be in writing. However, some courts and legislatures have stated that the man's consent may be implied by his actions. A few statutes presume that the woman's husband is the legal father of the child even if he does not consent to the artificial insemination. Less

The Non-Consenting Man

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter discusses the paternity of the non-consenting husband in situations where the wife uses the sperm of a donor to conceive a child. The paternity of the woman's husband is determined by ... More

This chapter discusses the paternity of the non-consenting husband in situations where the wife uses the sperm of a donor to conceive a child. The paternity of the woman's husband is determined by focusing on his actions. In the majority of jurisdictions, if a man does not consent to the artificial insemination of his wife using another man's sperm, he is not the legal father of the resulting child. Most statutes require that the husband's consent be in writing. However, some courts and legislatures have stated that the man's consent may be implied by his actions. A few statutes presume that the woman's husband is the legal father of the child even if he does not consent to the artificial insemination.Less

Assisted Reproduction

Daniel B. Sinclair

in Jewish Biomedical Law: Legal and Extra-Legal Dimensions

This chapter discusses the issue of assisted reproduction in Jewish law. Topics covered include morality, naturalism, and artificial insemination using the husband's sperm (AIH); artificial ... More

This chapter discusses the issue of assisted reproduction in Jewish law. Topics covered include morality, naturalism, and artificial insemination using the husband's sperm (AIH); artificial insemination using donor sperm (AID) and the issues of adultery and mamzerut, other halakhic problems associated with AID, moral objections to AID, in vitro fertilization (IVF), halakhic problems in relation to IVF using donor eggs or a surrogate mother, the role of aggadah in determining maternity, and procreative obligation and procreative autonomy in Jewish and Israeli law.Less

The Fertile Man

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter considers the paternity of the fertile man who donates sperm so that an unmarried woman can conceive his child. The donor may be someone whom the woman knows or someone who makes a ... More

This chapter considers the paternity of the fertile man who donates sperm so that an unmarried woman can conceive his child. The donor may be someone whom the woman knows or someone who makes a contribution to a sperm bank. Under most state statutes, the sperm donor is never acknowledged as the legal father of the child. The statutes do not make a distinction between known and anonymous sperm donors. However, in some states, the sperm donor may agree to be a father to the child. Courts will usually recognize these agreements. A sperm donor may also be recognized as the legal father of the child if he does not comply with the state's artificial insemination statute. States without statutes tend to treat known sperm donors differently from anonymous sperm donors. While anonymous sperm donors are generally protected from parental obligations, at least one court has recognized a known sperm donor as the legal father of the children created using his genetic material.Less

4 The Fertile Man

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter considers the paternity of the fertile man who donates sperm so that an unmarried woman can conceive his child. The donor may be someone whom the woman knows or someone who makes a ... More

This chapter considers the paternity of the fertile man who donates sperm so that an unmarried woman can conceive his child. The donor may be someone whom the woman knows or someone who makes a contribution to a sperm bank. Under most state statutes, the sperm donor is never acknowledged as the legal father of the child. The statutes do not make a distinction between known and anonymous sperm donors. However, in some states, the sperm donor may agree to be a father to the child. Courts will usually recognize these agreements. A sperm donor may also be recognized as the legal father of the child if he does not comply with the state's artificial insemination statute. States without statutes tend to treat known sperm donors differently from anonymous sperm donors. While anonymous sperm donors are generally protected from parental obligations, at least one court has recognized a known sperm donor as the legal father of the children created using his genetic material. Less

8 Allocating the Paternity of Husbands, Same-Sex Partners, and Sperm Donors

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter presents three different proposals pertaining to the allocation of the paternity of the men involved in the artificial insemination process. The first proposal addresses situations ... More

This chapter presents three different proposals pertaining to the allocation of the paternity of the men involved in the artificial insemination process. The first proposal addresses situations involving two or more men who want to be recognized as the father of the resulting child. The second proposal is offered to assist courts faced with the decision of whether or not to acknowledge the inseminated woman's husband or same-sex partner as the paternal parent of the artificially conceived child. The third proposal discusses the paternal obligations of sperm donors. The theories that underlie these proposals address situations that involve one adult who is biologically unrelated to the child. The focus is on cases where the option before the court is either to allocate parental rights to the one person seeking it or to declare the artificially conceived child to have only one legal parent. Less

A Request for Medically Assisted Reproduction

Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens, and Mahmoud F. Fathalla

in Reproductive Health and Human Rights: Integrating Medicine, Ethics, and Law

This chapter analyzes the case of Mr and Mrs F who have been married for ten years and have no children. They have ruled out the choice of adoption, and are considering resort to an artificial ... More

This chapter analyzes the case of Mr and Mrs F who have been married for ten years and have no children. They have ruled out the choice of adoption, and are considering resort to an artificial insemination donor. However, they worry about the right of the child to have a ‘natural’ father (that is, the wife's husband), or not to know its biological father. They ask Dr R for advice and possible assistance in arranging artificial insemination by donor. It discusses what Dr R should advise and assist, in light of relevant medical, ethical, legal, and human rights considerations.Less

Allocating the Paternity of Husbands, Same-Sex Partners, and Sperm Donors

Browne C. Lewis

in Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination

This chapter presents three different proposals pertaining to the allocation of the paternity of the men involved in the artificial insemination process. The first proposal addresses situations ... More

This chapter presents three different proposals pertaining to the allocation of the paternity of the men involved in the artificial insemination process. The first proposal addresses situations involving two or more men who want to be recognized as the father of the resulting child. The second proposal is offered to assist courts faced with the decision of whether or not to acknowledge the inseminated woman's husband or same-sex partner as the paternal parent of the artificially conceived child. The third proposal discusses the paternal obligations of sperm donors. The theories that underlie these proposals address situations that involve one adult who is biologically unrelated to the child. The focus is on cases where the option before the court is either to allocate parental rights to the one person seeking it or to declare the artificially conceived child to have only one legal parent.Less

Market Regulation

Naomi R. Cahn

in Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Market Needs Legal Regulation

This chapter focuses on the legal regulation of the reproductive technology market, including the fertility clinics and gamete suppliers. For those seeking sperm, there are thousands of ... More

This chapter focuses on the legal regulation of the reproductive technology market, including the fertility clinics and gamete suppliers. For those seeking sperm, there are thousands of possibilities. In the United States alone, dozens of sperm banks are available as part of a business that accounts for about $75 million per year. The number of physicians offering assisted reproductive services has also increased exponentially. However, there is little guarantee about the safety of sperm that one buys, the eggs that are used, the success rate of fertility clinics, or that the embryo created with one's egg and her partner's sperm is the embryo that will be transferred into her body. The amount of market regulation at the state and federal levels with respect to reproductive technologies is limited. This chapter first provides a historical background on artificial insemination as a solution to infertility, along with the programs for both egg and sperm donation. It then discusses self-regulation in the reproductive technology industry before examining the laws that apply to sperm and egg donation.Less

Parenting Regulation

Naomi R. Cahn

in Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Market Needs Legal Regulation

This chapter examines how the law has responded to the families created through adoption as well as embryo, egg, and sperm donation. It also considers how judicial and legislative interpretations of ... More

This chapter examines how the law has responded to the families created through adoption as well as embryo, egg, and sperm donation. It also considers how judicial and legislative interpretations of the implications of reproductive technologies have affected the traditional significance of genetic and marital relationships. The chapter begins by introducing the reader to parentage rights in the United States before turning to a discussion of early cases that struggled with whether children born through gamete provision were “legitimate” or whether the mother had committed adultery. It then reviews relevant laws such as the Uniform Parentage Act, which recognizes the rights of single people to use artificial reproductive technology. Finally, it explores legal issues surrounding parentage and legitimacy, inheritance, incest, artificial insemination, and nonmarital children.Less

Reproductive Technologies and the Birth of the HFEA

Ruth Deech and Anna Smajdor

in From IVF to Immortality: Controversy in the Era of Reproductive Technology

This chapter explores the history of reproductive technology. It goes back to the first attempts at artificial insemination and traces the trajectory of technological developments since then. The ... More

This chapter explores the history of reproductive technology. It goes back to the first attempts at artificial insemination and traces the trajectory of technological developments since then. The biology of reproduction is explained, and the current technological means of addressing infertility are listed. The social impact of reproductive technology and the associated need for regulation are considered. Future developments in reproductive technology are considered, and the impact of controversial breakthroughs, such as the cloning of Dolly the sheep, are discussed.Less

Sheep: Fascist Settlers and the Colonization of Africa and Europe

Tiago Saraiva

in Fascist Pigs: Technoscientific Organisms and the History of Fascism

The sixth and final chapter is the most original in terms of methodology, for it takes a single technoscientific organism – Karakul sheep – and follows its role in the settlement of the frontier for ... More

The sixth and final chapter is the most original in terms of methodology, for it takes a single technoscientific organism – Karakul sheep – and follows its role in the settlement of the frontier for the three fascist empires. The ability of Karakul to thrive under harsh environmental conditions and its high value in the fur market made it a perfect companion species for white settler’s imperial expansion. The Animal Breeding Institute at the University of Halle is taken as center of circulation, establishing standards and producing the rams to be used not only in white settlers farms in German possessions in Eastern Europe, but also in Italian settlement schemes in Libya and Ethiopia, and in Portuguese colonization of South-western Angola. The different local karakul sheep experiment stations located in frontier spaces are treated as experiments in colonial sociability, revealing the connections between sheep breeding and the genocides perpetrated by the three regimes.Less

Fertility Rites: Artificial Insemination and In Vitro Fertilization—Their Hopes and Their Fears

Clara Pinto-Correia

in Fear, Wonder, and Science in the New Age of Reproductive Biotechnology

From royal families, to farm animals, to the general public, artificial insemination AI has had many guises. One of these is sperm banking, where people can pay to be inseminated with sperm from men ... More

From royal families, to farm animals, to the general public, artificial insemination AI has had many guises. One of these is sperm banking, where people can pay to be inseminated with sperm from men having the traits they desire. But it does not always happen that one gets what one pays for. In vitro fertilization, the other widespread reproductive technology, offers hope, the source of both blessings and curses, to many infertile couples.Less

Medical Tourism and the Creation of Life: A Study of Fertility Tourism

I. Glenn Cohen

in Patients with Passports: Medical Tourism, Law, and Ethics

This chapter examines “fertility tourism”—individuals who travel abroad to use reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination, surrogacy, sex selection, etc. Some travel for price, others ... More

This chapter examines “fertility tourism”—individuals who travel abroad to use reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination, surrogacy, sex selection, etc. Some travel for price, others to circumvent restrictions in their home country. The first part of this chapter sketches what we know about the current flow of patients, doctors, surrogates, and egg and sperm donors in the trade. The next part examines under what circumstances home countries that prohibit particular reproductive technologies from being used by their citizens in the home country should extend that prohibition to those who go to a country where the practice is legal. Among other things, the chapter discusses the question of whether fertility tourism involving surrogacy is a morally problematic form of exploitation and whether that analysis also mandates extending the prohibition extraterritorially. The third part of this chapter examines the question of nationality and immigration for the children born through fertility tourism.Less

artificial insemination: and then came love

patricia digilio and nazanin z. rohani

in The Picture of Health: Medical Ethics and the Movies

This chapter discusses the issue of artificial insemination raised by the film And Then Came Love (2007). The film tells the story of Julie Davidson (Vanessa Williams) who decided to become a single ... More

This chapter discusses the issue of artificial insemination raised by the film And Then Came Love (2007). The film tells the story of Julie Davidson (Vanessa Williams) who decided to become a single mother by resorting to artificial insemination by an anonymous donor. When her son Jack begins inquiring about his father and social pressures from school begin to mount, Julie begins a quest for the original donor, one which will ultimately lead her to change her life. Some argue that children should be told whether one (or both) of their birth parents is not their genetic relative, and that gamete donor(s) should be disclosed because lack of knowledge of one's genetic origins has potentially adverse psychosocial implications, and because our genetic heritage is part of our identity. Others, however, claim that focusing so strongly on anonymity versus disclosure is just another example of genetic essentialism, whereby providing knowledge of one's genetic parents is given special importance beyond that given to nongenetic ones.Less

Same-Sex Partnerships in the United States

in Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States

During the past few decades, U.S. courts have been slowly expanding the definition of family. There is growing recognition of homosexuals as parents, because courts are increasingly granting ... More

During the past few decades, U.S. courts have been slowly expanding the definition of family. There is growing recognition of homosexuals as parents, because courts are increasingly granting visitation and custody rights not only to the gay or lesbian natural parent but also to stepparents in same-sex relationships. Courts are also approving adoption petitions of single gay men and lesbians and of same-sex co-parents, as well as petitions of a same-sex couple to jointly adopt an unrelated child. The availability of artificial insemination for lesbians is another contributing factor to the expanding recognition of alternative families in the United States. In recognizing new family structures and living arrangements alternative to marriage, the prevalent statutory solution to the status of unmarried cohabitants in the United States during the past decade has been domestic partner legislation and policies.Less