How Nature and Kinship Are Mobilized to Support Nuclear Family Narratives on Fertility Clinic Websites
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Birds & Bees: How Nature and Kinship are Mobilized to Support Nuclear Family Narratives on Fertility Clinic Websites. by Lisa Jane Pender B.A., University of Victoria, 1997 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology © Lisa Jane Pender, 2007 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii2 Birds & Bees: How Nature and Kinship are Mobilized to Support Nuclear Family Narratives on Fertility Clinic Websites. by Lisa Jane Pender B.A., University of Victoria, 1997 Supervisory Committee Dr. Lisa M. Mitchell, Supervisor (Department of Anthropology) Dr. Margot Wilson, Departmental Member (Department of Anthropology) Dr. Leslie Butt, Outside Member (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Dr. Christine St. Peter, External Examiner (Department of Women’s Studies) iii3 Supervisory Committee Dr. Lisa M. Mitchell, Supervisor (Department of Anthropology) Dr. Margot Wilson, Departmental Member (Department of Anthropology) Dr. Leslie Butt, Outside Member (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Dr. Christine St. Peter, External Examiner (Department of Women’s Studies) ABSTRACT This thesis explores how fertility clinics engage in various textual and visual strategies to locate nature and kinship in the context of the assisted conception technologies they offer. In particular, competing paradigms of modern technology solving problems of the body versus the “naturalness” of having a baby means that fertility clinics must mobilize particular understandings of nature and technology to bridge this gap. Additionally, fertility clinics draw upon culturally meaningful themes such as “birds and bees” to structure relationships among assisted conception technology participants. I argue that fertility clinic websites are public sites of discourse through which clinics both attempt to attract potential clients and shape understanding of assisted conception technology by offering particular explanations as real and natural. iv4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Supervisory Committee.....................................................................................ii Abstract..............................................................................................................iii Table of Contents..............................................................................................iv List of Tables ...................................................................................................... v List of Figures....................................................................................................vi Introduction........................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Locating Nature and Kinship in Reproductive Technologies.. 5 1.1 Public Discourse ............................................................................................ 5 1.2 Literature Review ........................................................................................ 15 1.3 Research Questions and Theoretical Framework ....................................... 26 Chapter 2: Methods......................................................................................... 35 2.1 Websites....................................................................................................... 35 2.2 Fertility Clinic Website Sample .................................................................. 38 2.3 Data Collection and Analysis...................................................................... 41 Chapter 3: Fertility Clinic Website Content ................................................ 47 3.1 Fertility Clinics as Entrepreneurs................................................................ 48 3.2 Reproductive Technologies and Other Services......................................... 54 3.3 Example A: Heartland Fertility and Gynaecology Clinic ......................... 60 3.4 Example B: The International Fertility Centers for Surrogacy and Ovum Donation ........................................................................................... 67 Chapter 4: Participants and Relationships ................................................. 74 4.1 Reproductive Technologies and Relationships........................................... 80 4.2 Relationships Among Participants .............................................................. 98 Chapter 5: Socio-Technical Networks .......................................................106 5.1 AI, IVF and ICSI .......................................................................................107 5.2 Egg Donation and Sperm Donation ..........................................................111 5.3 AI, Sperm Donation and Genetic Surrogacy ............................................113 5.4 Egg Donation, Embryo Donation and Gestational Surrogacy .................116 Chapter 6: Analysis and Discussion ............................................................119 6.1 Nature and Discourse Analysis: Regimes of Truth .................................120 6.2 Nuclear Family Narrative and Supporting Themes..................................124 6.3 Gender: Reproducing Conventional Stereotypes ....................................137 6.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................143 Works Cited....................................................................................................149 Appendix A: Fertility Clinic Website Sample...........................................165 Appendix B: Images .....................................................................................166 v5 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Fertility Clinic Website Content: Promotional Slogans .................................. 55 Table 2 Heartland Fertility and Gynaecology Clinic Site Map ..................................... 63 Table 3 The International Fertility Centers for Surrogacy and Ovum Donation Home Page Key Messages ................................................................................ 68 Table 4 The International Fertility Centers for Surrogacy and Ovum Donation Site Map ............................................................................................................. 69 vi6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Website Address Mt. Sinai Hospital, Reproductive Biology Unit, Toronto, Ontario................166 Figure 2: Endometriosis Southeastern Fertility Center, Knoxville, Tennessee .....................................166 Figure 3: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Southeastern Fertility Center, Knoxville, Tennessee .....................................166 Figure 4: Pelvic Adhesive Disease Shady Grove Fertility Reproductive Science Center, Rockville, Maryland..166 Figure 5: Fibroid Tumors The Fertility Institutes, Tarzana, California....................................................167 Figure 6: Sunflower and Baby Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba.................167 Figure 7: Nuclear Family Logo Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba.................168 Figure 8: Nuclear Family Logo Institute for Reproductive Health, Cincinnati, Ohio.......................................168 Figure 9: Nuclear Family Logo Shady Grove Fertility Reproductive Science Center, Rockville, Maryland..168 Figure 10: Floral Triad Logo IVF Canada, Scarborough, Ontario.................................................................168 Figure 11: Floral Triad Logo The Washington Center for Reproductive Medicine, Seattle, Washington...168 Figure 12: Floral Triad Logo Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba.................168 Figure 13: Nuclear Family/Floral Triad Logo Combined Royal University Hospital – Assisted Reproductive Technology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan ................................168 Figure 14: Sunflower and ICSI Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba.................169 vii7 Figure 15: Sunflower and ICSI University of British Columbia IVF Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia .169 Figure 16: Butterfly and ICSI Southeastern Fertility Center, Knoxville, Tennessee .....................................169 1 INTRODUCTION Reproductive technologies are heralded as opening up possibilities for infertile women and men and same-sex couples and cautioned against by others who perceive a threat to traditional families and values. Recent newspaper headlines announced Canada’s first three-parent family when an Ontario court awarded a non-biological lesbian co-mother the legal status of mother, in addition to the existing biological mother and non-custodial biological father (Austen 2007; Hanes 2007). Another headline announced that a woman who donated and cryopreserved her eggs for her infertile daughter could become the social grandmother of her genetic daughter (Bonoguore 2007). Reports of developments in reproductive technology and attendant debate about the ethics and social implications of these developments have been a regular feature of Canadian public media for over two decades. The possibilities of donating one’s egg or sperm to one’s offspring or to complete strangers or of employing a surrogate to gestate one’s child raise provocative questions for both the public and for anthropologists. Anthropologists have long been interested in culture change, the social implications of technology and the diverse