Project description
Exploring new family forms and assisted reproductive technologies
Europe currently holds a dominant position in the assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) market, with North America and Asia following suit. However, more than half of European states and the majority of countries in the Americas and Asia do not allow access to ARTs for solo individuals, same-sex couples, and heterosexual couples who need donated eggs, embryos or surrogacy. Addressing this issue, the ERC-funded REPRO-SCAPES project aims to investigate ARTs, new family forms, and transnationalism using three approaches: a multi-sited ethnography exploring transnational exchange, a single-site ethnography analysing specific locations, and a study of the intersection between new family forms and ARTs. The project will primarily focus on Europe, North America, the Middle East, and specifically examine four countries: Canada, Denmark, Israel, and Spain.
Objective
The global assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) market is expected to reach USD 45 billion by 2025 with more than 8 million babies born. Europe dominates the market followed by North-America and Asia. However more than half of European states and most countries in the Americas and Asia prohibit access to ARTs to solo individuals, same-sex couples and heterosexual couples who need donated eggs, embryos or surrogacy. It is a prime example of contemporary technological transnationalism with potential parents pursuing treatment abroad in the hopes of conception. As ARTs spread to populations that have not had access to them before, how is reproduction being transformed by technologies and individuals whose sexual and reproductive lives may defy social norms and national laws? Due to biotechnologies and the populations who seek ARTs a new theoretical framework for cross-border reproductive care is necessary. The overarching aim is to study the question of ARTs, new family-forms and transnationalism in three ways: Firstly by exploring how the transnational circulations of ARTs, bodily material and ideas take form in three continents: Europe, North-America and the Middle-East (multi-sited ethnography). The second is through the ethnographic approach of analysis of specific locations, examining how technologies, genetic flow and ideas come to settle in four countries, leaders in ARTs and sexual and reproductive health rights (single-site ethnographies): Spain, Denmark, Canada and Israel. Thirdly, by studying the complexity and intersection of the biological, social, politico-legal and ideological between new family-forms and ARTs, and how these intersections shape their experiences. I am uniquely positioned to implement this study due to my pioneering scholarship on ARTs and new family-forms from a strong interdisciplinary stance and solid experience of managing international teams, bringing together divergent empirical contexts for ground-breaking research.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
28006 Madrid
Spain