Who Counts as Family? Gamete donation and the construction of family forms in medical markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 831-852
Author(s):  
Laura Halcomb
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Gamete Donation ◽  
Egg Banks ◽  
Sperm Donors ◽  
Egg Donors ◽  
Medical Markets ◽  
Third Party Reproduction ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

This paper examines how gender beliefs are embedded in the organizational practices of the reproductive market. Third party reproduction blurs boundaries between familial and non-familial members, making gamete banks and donation agencies important sites for studying the construction of family. Cultural beliefs about gender are implicated in the discourses and practices of these organizations, which shape and constrain the experiences and options for both gamete donors and recipient families. To evaluate this process, I conducted qualitative analyses on the recruitment materials of all of sperm banks, egg banks, and egg donation agencies in the United States. My analysis demonstrates that the reproductive market still relies on heteronormative assumptions of family. However, the extent to which these organizations facilitate participation in new, non-normative family forms breaks down along gendered lines, where sperm donors have more freedom, status, and potential to create relationships with recipient families than egg donors.

Biblical Lessons on Third-Party Reproduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Richard Whitekettle ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
The Public ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Sperm Donors ◽  
The World ◽  
Third Party Reproduction ◽  
The Subject

Third-party reproduction uses ovum donors, sperm donors, embryo donors, and gestational surrogates in various combinations to create a child for heterosexual couples, same-sex couples, and individuals to raise. Its use is increasing in the United States and around the world, and it is increasingly the subject of legislation. But third-party reproduction tells the individuals who provide the ovum, sperm, and gestation required to create a child that they are reproductive mechanisms, not reproductive persons. By contrast, multiple stories in the Bible involving third-party reproduction recognize the motherhood and fatherhood, and thus the reproductive personhood, of those whose sexual union brings forth a new child. This is an important point for people of faith and the public to be mindful of.

Revisiting the use of ‘counselling’ as a means of preparing prospective parents to meet the emerging psychosocial needs of families that have used gamete donation

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Crawshaw ◽  
Ken Daniels
Keyword(s):  
Third Party ◽  
Gamete Donation ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Educational Partnership ◽  
Healthy Family ◽  
Third Party Reproduction ◽  
Partnership Approach ◽  
Professional Interventions ◽  
Prospective Parents

Third party reproduction is an increasingly important part of family building but also challenges societal understanding of family and ‘kin’ relationships as being primarily hetero-normative and based on genetic connection. At the same time, understanding of the longer-term psycho-social implications of gamete donation is changing as knowledge grows. Research, professional and personal experiences demonstrate that a range of meanings can be triggered regarding relationships, identity and health matters that challenge normative views. This raises questions of how best to assist those contemplating this route to parenthood. With knowledge gained from research and practice over many years, we argue this requires a shift from focusing on assessment/evaluation of prospective parents and/or therapeutic work to a psycho-educational partnership approach offering help with managing relationships, thoughts and feelings and building strategies for healthy family functioning alongside sharing knowledge from research and experiences. Such approaches can also be appropriate for later professional interventions.

scholarly journals Finding the “Appropriate Distance” in Egg Donor Kinship Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 136-170
Author(s):  
Matilde Lykkebo Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Legal Framework ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Egg Donation ◽  
Egg Donor ◽  
Kinship Relations ◽  
Egg Donors ◽  
Third Party Reproduction ◽  
Normative Constraints ◽  
Kinship Relation ◽  
Normative Ideals

This article explores kinship formation from the perspective of egg donors in Denmark. Through interviews with Danish egg donors, it investigates how the Danish legal framework and specific context, materialise egg donor kinship relations in third party reproduction. The article shows the ways egg donors negotiate normative ideals about family and motherhood through different kinship strategies. It argues that the donors’ relational kinship work is a form of social pioneering work, wherein donors help define what an egg donor kinship relation is and can be. This is analysed through the analytical concept of “appropriate distance.” The analysis shows how different normative constraints are embedded in the legal framework that structure which kinship relations are available. As an example, the different donor types in Denmark, anonymous, open, and known, become a way of disconnecting or connecting to kinship. In line with existing studies, it demonstrates how egg donation in Denmark is structured around ideals of altruism linked to normative ideals of femininity and motherhood. Further, it is concluded that egg donation proposes subversive potential for deconstructing heteronormative kinship ideals about motherhood. At the same time, however, the analyses conclude that heteronormative family ideals often are re-installed through egg donation practices.

scholarly journals ATTITUDES OF INFERTILE WOMEN IN SERBIA TOWARDS THIRD-PARTY REPRODUCTION

TEME ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 1107
Author(s):  
Ana Bilinović ◽  
Marija Zotović ◽  
Marko Škorić ◽  
Ksenija Kričković Pele
Keyword(s):  
In Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Gamete Donation ◽  
Surrogate Motherhood ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Infertile Women ◽  
Infertility Treatments ◽  
Third Party Reproduction

Third-party reproduction refers to the use of gametes, embryos or gestation that have been provided by a third party to enable an infertile individual or couple to become parent(s). The social, legal, and ethical acceptability of third-party reproduction varies around the world. In Serbia, there is a noticeable lack of data on attitudes towards infertility treatments involving the use of donated gametes, as well as surrogacy arrangements, due to the fact that this practice is banned in this country. The aim of this paper is to examine the attitudes of infertile women in Serbia towards third-party reproduction, i.e. gamete donation and surrogate motherhood as potential parts of their own infertility treatments. The sample included 50 infertile women involved in the program of in vitro fertilization, which amounts to at least 10% of the total number of women who go through the program of state-funded in vitro fertilization in Novi Sad each year. The questionnaire, constructed for the purpose of the study, was administered. The participants expressed negative attitudes towards using third-party gamete donation and surrogacy in their own infertility treatments. The negative attitudes were most prevalent among participants with low- and medium-level education. The potential reasons for such attitudes are discussed.

Systematic Government Access to Private-Sector Data in the United States I

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie K. Pell
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Threat Detection ◽  
Detection And Identification ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
September 11 Attacks ◽  
Access To Data ◽  
Sector Data

After the September 11 attacks, law enforcement's mission expanded to include, at times even prioritize, the general “prevention, deterrence and disruption” of terrorist attacks, which presumed a new emphasis upon threat detection and identification by analyzing patterns in larger, less specific bodies of information. Indeed, the unprecedented level of “third-party” possession of information inevitably makes the private sector the most reliable and comprehensive source of information available to law enforcement and intelligence agencies alike. This chapter explores the potential applications of systematic government access to data held by third-party private-sector intermediaries that would not be considered public information sources but, rather, data generated based on the role these intermediaries play in facilitating economic and business transactions (including personal business, such as buying groceries or staying at a hotel on vacation).

scholarly journals Third-Party Effects in Stakeholder Interviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692096648
Author(s):  
Melissa Beresford ◽  
J. Leah Jones ◽  
Julia C. Bausch ◽  
Clinton F. Williams ◽  
Amber Wutich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Sensitive Topics ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Coding Strategy ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

This paper examines the effect of having a third-party scientific expert present in stakeholder interviews. The study was conducted as part of a larger project on stakeholder engagement for natural resource management in the Verde Valley region of Arizona. We employed an experimental design, conducting stakeholder interviews both with and without an identified scientific expert present. Our sample consisted of 12 pairs of interviewees (24 total participants) who we matched based on their occupation, sex, and spatial proximity. For each pair, the scientific expert was present as a third party in one interview and absent in the other. We used a word-based coding strategy to code all interview responses for three known areas of sensitivity among the study population (risk, gatekeeping, and competence). We then performed both quantitative and qualitative analyses to compare responses across the two interview groups. We found that the presence of a scientific expert did not have a statistically significant effect on the mention of sensitive topics among stakeholders. However, our qualitative results show that the presence of a scientific expert had subtle influences on the ways that stakeholders discussed sensitive topics, particularly in placing emphasis on their own credibility and knowledge. Our findings indicate that researchers may be able to pursue collaborative, interdisciplinary research designs with multiple researchers present during interviews without concerns of strongly influencing data elicitation on sensitive topics. However, researchers should be cognizant of the subtle ways in which the presence of a third-party expert may influence the credibility claims and knowledge assertions made by respondents when a third-party expert is present during stakeholder interviews.

Lead in Mineral or Multivitamin-Multimineral Products

2021 ◽  
pp. 106002802110233
Author(s):  
C. Michael White
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Study Selection ◽  
Pubmed Search ◽  
Zinc Supplements ◽  
Average Lead ◽  
Year 2000

Objective Assess the current daily interim reference level of lead and the amount contained in current mineral and multivitamin-multimineral (MVM) products. Data Sources PubMed search from 1980 to May 15, 2021, limited to the English language, via the search strategy ((mineral OR multivitamin OR calcium OR iron OR magnesium OR copper OR zinc OR chromium OR selenium) AND (heavy metals OR Pb OR lead)). Study Selection and Data Extraction Narrative review of studies assessing lead content in mineral or MVM products. Data Synthesis Products containing different calcium forms (dolomite, bone meal, natural carbonate) have historically had higher lead levels than others (refined carbonate, lactate, gluconate, acetate, sevelamer), but the gap has closed considerably since the year 2000. Although only limited assessments of magnesium and zinc supplements have been conducted, no alarming average lead amounts were found. MVM products assessed since 2007 had low median or mean lead concentrations. However, large interproduct differences exist, with many products having very little lead and some products having concerning amounts. Relevance to Patient Care and Clinical Practice It is difficult for pharmacists and consumers to know the amount of lead in an actual product unless it is tested in an independent third-party lab. The United States Pharmacopeia and NSF International will provide a seal on the products stating that the products have a low level of lead, but even so, children could receive more lead than the Food and Drug Administration’s Interim Reference Level. Conclusions The threat from lead exposure in mineral and MVM products have diminsihed considerably over time but some products can still have excessive amounts. Without third-party testing, it is difficult for clinicians and consumers to know which outlier products to avoid.

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