Session Name: [Humanities Across Borders] Care, Custody, Conservation I
1 - Management and Preservation of the Bodily Substances: the social imaginaries of gametes in reproductive technologies
Monday, July 29, 2024
14:00 – 15:45 (GMT+7)
Presentation Abstract Since the world’s first successful IVF birth in 1978, the so-called reproductive revolution have drastically changed the way of progeny and management of bodily substances such as gametes (sperm, oocyte, eggs, etc.) and embryos. Reproductive technologies have spread throughout society as a means of having children, and this trend has spread not only to the developed world but also to the Global South. The technology embodied a series of processes for the care, preservation and disposal of embryos and gametes and exchange and transaction of these human bodily substances. Gametes and embryos are cryopreserved in clinics for years as surplus resources for future pregnancies. The surplus embryos and gametes evokes different imaginations and conflicts in people because of their cultural meanings and potential for future life. Furthermore, it is not only the gametes as a substance that are important, but also the accompanying information that needs to be controlled and preserved. It is now obligatory for several countries to keep donor information for more than 100 years. It becomes an important issue to manage, conserve and disclose donor information in the field of reproductive technologies. This paper discusses issues surrounding bodily substances in contemporary society, through the perspective of the care, management and conservation of gametes and embryos, and people’s feelings and practices toward it.
.png)