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My Gametes, My Right? The Politics of Involving Donors' Partners in Egg and Sperm Donation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Katherine M. Johnson
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Abstract

Gamete donation offers a unique opportunity to compare men and women's relationships to reproductive decision-making, unlike other reproductive processes, which typically involve women's bodies much more asymmetrically. I address medical and reproductive decision-making by examining how a gamete donor's partner may be involved in the donation process. Some countries explicitly involve a donor's partner by legally requiring spousal consent for donation, but this is not the case for the U.S. In the absence of any formal regulation, what are the expectations for involving a donor's partner? Through a content analysis of materials from donation programs across the U.S., I examine how donation programs configure the partner's role. Overall, I find that there are quite different expectations for partner involvement in egg versus sperm donation. Such differences, I argue, both stem from and reinforce existing issues navigating boundaries between intimate relationships and women's medical and reproductive autonomy.

Type
Independent Articles
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 45 , Issue 4: Stigma & Health , Winter 2017 , pp. 621 - 633
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2017

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