Deliberated Disclosure and Absence: Analyzing (De-)Gendered Motives and Effects in European Bans on Gamete Donor Identity

• In Event: 4366 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 11. Knowledge and Standards in the Global and Transnational Arena

Abstract

Following a pioneering 1985 reversal in Swedish health policy and family law, several European nations have similarly revoked the rights of male and female gamete donors to remain anonymous to offspring created through various methods of assisted reproduction. Some experts fear that additional anonymity bans will negatively impact donor insemination (DI) access, an elective that health monitors (ICMART) increasingly associate with reductions in below-replacement birthrates in developed countries. Clinicians and ethicists note that DI access especially serves the interests of varied infertility patient categories, including same sex couples and aging females. A close examination on the expressed motives, terms and recurring deliberation themes indicates that gender value differs in evaluations on the merits of bans. Responding to this gap, this paper draws together notions from the sociology of law, medicine and reproduction to examine debates on this multi-national policy trend. It studies variations in the significance assigned to identity disclosure, regard for the gender of contributors to this inherently gendered reproductive elective and the influence of extra-national policies on social interpretations of care value. Ultimately, this review on health policy includes an application of ideas by Mason (1997) and Hirschman (1994, 2014) to support critical analyses on the treatment of gender difference in DI program governance and questions assumptions about gender in works on transition effects and counter-effects.

Author

• Shelley Grant, Planned Parenthood/UW Seattle