ABSTRACT

Forms of reproductive assistance are and will continue to be a focus of concern in many spheres of contemporary life. While the medical and legal professions ponder the practical and ethical conundrums arising alongside-if nor a step behind-scientific developments in reproductive medicine, feminist observers, among others, ask questions about who benefits from reproductive technology. At the same time, those who require fertility services are concerned with the need for increased and equal access to appropriate and adequate treatment. To take an anthropological approach to the impact of new reproductive technology (NRT) is to take an interest in perspectives: the fact that forms of reproductive assistance have become a focus of concern in many spheres of contemporary life becomes an issue in itself. Such an anthropological approach would not only explore the same phenomenon from different viewpoints, including those of different interest groups, it would also look to locate those perspectives in a wider cultural context. Ideas about ‘new reproductive technology’ are to be understood in the context of other ideas which inform the viewpoint people take, and are informed by it. The premise of the present chapter is that these will include notions about relatedness and reproducing persons which go beyond the immediate issues of fertility and conception.