Donor Insemination: International Social Science Perspectives

Donor insemination or DI is the oldest and most widely practised form of assisted conception but, until relatively recently, it had been assessed largely from a medical perspective. This 1998 book brings together an international group of social scientists to discuss the social, cultural, political and practical dimensions to DI, relating it to the wider debates about fertility treatment and the place of assisted conception in contemporary society. The contributors consider the experience of DI from the viewpoint of all the various parties involved, including the recipients of the treatment, the sperm providers, the clinicians, the people conceived and policy-makers working in the area. The assumptions informing the practices around DI and the reactions to it are critically examined, with reference to developments worldwide, cross-national issues, the language of DI, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and identity.