IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v66y2008i1p159-169.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Paid to share: IVF patients, eggs and stem cell research

Author

Listed:
  • Roberts, Celia
  • Throsby, Karen

Abstract

Following a recent decision by the human fertilisation and embryology authority (HFEA), British women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment can be 'paid to share' their eggs with stem cell researchers. The HFEA and the clinic proposing the scheme present this as a 'win-win' arrangement benefiting both infertile women and couples and British science. It is also represented as concurrently both 'business as usual' and an exceptional case. Constituting a significant departure from the previous policy and practice of altruistic donation, the scheme has raised significant concerns among clinicians and activists. Here, we ask what questions feminists can bring to these debates without resorting to a position of either refusal or affirmation. Drawing on diverse materials from public debates, as well as social scientific literature on gamete and embryo donation, we undertake a close analysis of the discursive framing and justification of the proposal. We argue that these discourses are characterised by three linked areas of elision and distinction: treatment and research; eggs and embryos; and donation and selling. Our analysis highlights the need for innovative social, ethical and political consideration of egg sharing for stem cell research.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberts, Celia & Throsby, Karen, 2008. "Paid to share: IVF patients, eggs and stem cell research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 159-169, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:66:y:2008:i:1:p:159-169
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(07)00457-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parry, Sarah, 2006. "(Re)constructing embryos in stem cell research: Exploring the meaning of embryos for people involved in fertility treatments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 2349-2359, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Waldby, Catherine & Kerridge, Ian & Boulos, Margaret & Carroll, Katherine, 2013. "From altruism to monetisation: Australian women's ideas about money, ethics and research eggs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 34-42.
    2. Ehrich, Kathryn & Williams, Clare & Farsides, Bobbie, 2010. "Fresh or frozen? Classifying 'spare' embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2204-2211, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Waldby, Catherine & Kerridge, Ian & Boulos, Margaret & Carroll, Katherine, 2013. "From altruism to monetisation: Australian women's ideas about money, ethics and research eggs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 34-42.
    2. Saniei, Mansooreh, 2013. "Human embryonic stem cell science and policy: The case of Iran," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 345-350.
    3. Kent, Julie, 2008. "The fetal tissue economy: From the abortion clinic to the stem cell laboratory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 1747-1756, December.
    4. Pfeffer, Naomi, 2008. "What British women say matters to them about donating an aborted fetus to stem cell research: A focus group study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2544-2554, June.
    5. Ehrich, Kathryn & Williams, Clare & Farsides, Bobbie, 2010. "Fresh or frozen? Classifying 'spare' embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2204-2211, December.
    6. Delaunay, Catarina & Gouveia, Luís & Santos, Mário JDS. & Morais, Rita, 2023. "(De)Bonding with embryos: The emotional choreographies of Portuguese IVF patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:66:y:2008:i:1:p:159-169. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.