Public policies and reproductive technology: a feminist critique.

Abstract

Reproductive technology comprises abortion, contraception, amniocentesis (more than 40 genetic disorders can be diagnosed), chorionic villus sampling, genetic screening (to reduce the risk of chromosomal defects such as Down syndrome, sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs disease, and cystic fibrosis), in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination by spouse or donor, the development of sperm banks, storage of frozen sperm (cryopreservation), the development of artificial wombs, techniques for predetermining the sex of a fetus, and nursery environments to maintain a fetus removed from the womb in the 1st trimester. In recent years, the demand for these services has increased because of higher infertility and the drop in the number of babies available for adoption. Surrogacy is especially controversial: it has become a symbol of the dehumanization of modern life and the exploitation of women. The feminist perspective discloses how patriarchal values about the subordinate status of women, about the nature of motherhood, infertility, and the family are both implicit and explicit in prevailing thinking about reproduction. The new technology offers women who wish to remain unmarried the opportunity to have a family, and it enables lesbian women to bear children. The research literature favors a Eurocentric nuclear family without any awareness that in Canada, and in the Western world, new forms of family life have been evolving as couples marry, divorce, and remarry. There is no awareness either that in other cultures this Eurocentric nuclear model is dysfunctional. Because of the rigid notion of the 2-parent nuclear family, the 3rd parties who are involved in either surrogate relationships or artificial insemination are deprecated. The feminist literature is more critical of the nuclear family, but it has been sometimes inconsistent on the relevant issues.