Laura Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781479808175
- eISBN:
- 9781479843589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479808175.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter places reproductive technologies in historical perspective, beginning with the birth of the first child born through in vitro fertilization in 1978, the accompanied explosion of ...
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This chapter places reproductive technologies in historical perspective, beginning with the birth of the first child born through in vitro fertilization in 1978, the accompanied explosion of infertility services in the United States, and the development of gestational surrogacy. This chapter also considers how the advent of gestational surrogacy complicated the selection of a surrogate, the surrogate population, and the role of race in the reproductive technology industry. This chapter also introduces the feminist framework within which this book is situated by contextualizing the varied feminist responses to ARTs in the last several decades.Less
This chapter places reproductive technologies in historical perspective, beginning with the birth of the first child born through in vitro fertilization in 1978, the accompanied explosion of infertility services in the United States, and the development of gestational surrogacy. This chapter also considers how the advent of gestational surrogacy complicated the selection of a surrogate, the surrogate population, and the role of race in the reproductive technology industry. This chapter also introduces the feminist framework within which this book is situated by contextualizing the varied feminist responses to ARTs in the last several decades.
Laura Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781479808175
- eISBN:
- 9781479843589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479808175.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Opening with a brief exploration of the television series “Army Wives,” the introduction relates the theme of surrogacy presented in the drama to the foundational topics of this book; namely, it ...
More
Opening with a brief exploration of the television series “Army Wives,” the introduction relates the theme of surrogacy presented in the drama to the foundational topics of this book; namely, it illustrates the changing perception of surrogacy in American culture. Our understanding of reproduction has always been informed by social rules and expectations, and these norms influence how individuals go about imagining the possibilities for family formation. The contemporary technologies that separate conception, pregnancy, and parenthood seem to offer new ways to think about reproduction, and thus much more agency to the individual to create families that may flaunt cultural norms. Considering terms such as “cross-racial gestational surrogacy,” “traditional surrogacy,” “reproductive technologies” and more, the introduction establishes the core themes of the text, relating these terms and technologies to the traditional, nuclear family within the United States.Less
Opening with a brief exploration of the television series “Army Wives,” the introduction relates the theme of surrogacy presented in the drama to the foundational topics of this book; namely, it illustrates the changing perception of surrogacy in American culture. Our understanding of reproduction has always been informed by social rules and expectations, and these norms influence how individuals go about imagining the possibilities for family formation. The contemporary technologies that separate conception, pregnancy, and parenthood seem to offer new ways to think about reproduction, and thus much more agency to the individual to create families that may flaunt cultural norms. Considering terms such as “cross-racial gestational surrogacy,” “traditional surrogacy,” “reproductive technologies” and more, the introduction establishes the core themes of the text, relating these terms and technologies to the traditional, nuclear family within the United States.
Laura Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781479808175
- eISBN:
- 9781479843589
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479808175.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Brown Bodies, White Babies contributes to an active field of literature on reproductive technologies while addressing understudied aspects of surrogacy within this scholarship. With notable ...
More
Brown Bodies, White Babies contributes to an active field of literature on reproductive technologies while addressing understudied aspects of surrogacy within this scholarship. With notable exceptions, feminist analyses of surrogacy have largely focused on the gendered implications of the practice and minimized the role of race. Brown Bodies, White Babies takes intersectionality as a crucial starting point, examining the ways in which identity categories come together to form nexuses of privilege and oppression. Fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies, and intended parents often dismiss the role of race in gestational surrogacy arrangements as inconsequential, particularly in comparison to the race of egg and sperm donors who will contribute their genetic material. A surrogate is measured instead by markers of appropriate femininity, including the completeness of her own biological family, and the perceived authenticity of her altruistic motivations. Yet gender identity is not isolated from socially identified race, and thus the race of the surrogate takes on varying levels of importance in relation to other intersectional constructs. As new media narratives of surrogacy are constantly being produced and innovations in reproductive technologies advance at a rapid rate, it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep pace. However, the arguments and theoretical frameworks that underpin this research remain relevant, largely because this project resonates beyond the specificity of ARTs and draws historicized comparisons that tap into a much longer tradition of cross-racial reproductive labor.Less
Brown Bodies, White Babies contributes to an active field of literature on reproductive technologies while addressing understudied aspects of surrogacy within this scholarship. With notable exceptions, feminist analyses of surrogacy have largely focused on the gendered implications of the practice and minimized the role of race. Brown Bodies, White Babies takes intersectionality as a crucial starting point, examining the ways in which identity categories come together to form nexuses of privilege and oppression. Fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies, and intended parents often dismiss the role of race in gestational surrogacy arrangements as inconsequential, particularly in comparison to the race of egg and sperm donors who will contribute their genetic material. A surrogate is measured instead by markers of appropriate femininity, including the completeness of her own biological family, and the perceived authenticity of her altruistic motivations. Yet gender identity is not isolated from socially identified race, and thus the race of the surrogate takes on varying levels of importance in relation to other intersectional constructs. As new media narratives of surrogacy are constantly being produced and innovations in reproductive technologies advance at a rapid rate, it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep pace. However, the arguments and theoretical frameworks that underpin this research remain relevant, largely because this project resonates beyond the specificity of ARTs and draws historicized comparisons that tap into a much longer tradition of cross-racial reproductive labor.
