From ARTs to TRCs: Egg donation as key for the Spanish reproductive bioeconomy

• In Event: Bioeconomies - Life, Technologies, and Capital in the 21st Century II: The Reproductive Bioeconomy

Abstract

More than 8% of babies born in Spain are conceived through assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs). Almost 4 out of 10 babies born after direct-IVF depend on egg donation, presented as clinics’ “most successful technique”. Even though Spain has a solid and reliable public healthcare system, ARTs developed mainly in the private sector. This, along with the expansion of reproductive tourism, made the Spanish reproductive bioeconomy expand greatly. Drawing on qualitative research within reproductive clinics, this research argues that egg donation fuels the bioeconomic model of reproduction in Spain by taking advantage of the reproductive capacity of certain women rather than by (only) assisting reproduction. Furthermore, it argues that these donated eggs assist far more than what it seems at first glance. Egg donation is here described as a socio-technical practice of transference of reproductive capacity (TRC) rather than as yet another ART. TRC is a useful concept for separating ARTs from what they render possible, making more visible the role of donors and eggs on achieving certain pregnancies, and allowing to focus on how their use today is linked to reproducing certain (heteronormative) families and certain (neoliberal) economies. Finally, this work argues that donated eggs assist women who receive them, but also men and heterosexual couples in their desire to maintain paternal genetics. Furthermore, TRCs work through ARTs by enlarging the number of patients that can be treated and by increasing the success rates of both these techniques and the particular clinics applying them, assisting both clinics and ARTs themselves.

Author

• Sara Lafuente Funes, Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP) - Spanish National Research Council - CSIC