MACMILLAN Cross-Cultural Comparisons on Surrogacy and Egg Donation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from India, Germany and Israel

This book is the first to bring together an interdisciplinary collection of essays on surrogacy and egg donation from three socially, legally and culturally distinct countries - India, Israel and Germany. It presents contributions from experts in the field of social and cultural sciences, bioethics, law as well as psychology and provides critical-reflective comparative analysis of the socio-ethical factors shaping surrogacy and egg donation practices across these three countries. This book highlights the importance of a comparative perspective to ‘make sense’ of controversies and transitions in this highly contested area of artificial reproductive technologies. It demonstrates how local developments cannot be isolated from global events and vice versa. Therefore, this volume can be used as a standard reference for anyone seeking to understand surrogacy and egg donation from a macro-perspective in the next decade. Review “This important edited collection explores regulation, activism, and the framing of and restrictions on third party and cross-border reproduction in three countries known for their strikingly different surrogacy and egg donation regimes. Top scholars drawn from anthropology, bioethics, sociology, and psychology draw our attention to these dynamics in a powerful interdisciplinary comparative end product.” (Charis Thompson, UC Berkeley, USA, and Author of Making Parents: The Ontological Choreography of Reproductive Technologies) “This is the most important book on the ethics of surrogacy and egg donation to be published in recent years and a “must read” for anyone interested in reproductive ethics. Good ethical analysis requires in-depth knowledge of the actual reproductive practices and the application of nuanced and sophisticated ethical reasoning. This book provides both.” (Søren Holm, University of Manchester, UK, former Editor of Journal of Medical Ethics, and now Editor of the journal Clinical Ethics) “This stimulating volume by leading scholars presents the benefits and insights possible with a comparative approach for studying the rapidly shifting terrain of global assisted reproduction. It offers an essential reading to all those interested in the social, legal and ethical impacts of assisted reproduction.” (Andrea Whittaker, Monash University, Australia, and Editor of Abortion in Asia: Local Dilemmas, Global Politics) From the Back Cover This book is the first to bring together an interdisciplinary collection of essays on surrogacy and egg donation from three socially, legally and culturally distinct countries - India, Israel and Germany. It presents contributions from experts in the field of social and cultural sciences, bioethics, law as well as psychology and provides critical-reflective comparative analysis of the socio-ethical factors shaping surrogacy and egg donation practices across these three countries. This book highlights the importance of a comparative perspective to ‘make sense’ of controversies and transitions in this highly contested area of artificial reproductive technologies. It demonstrates how local developments cannot be isolated from global events and vice versa. Therefore, this volume can be used as a standard reference for anyone seeking to understand surrogacy and egg donation from a macro-perspective in the next decade. About the Author Sayani Mitra has recently completed her PhD in Social Sciences from University of Goettingen, Germany. Her research interest lies in the field of assisted reproductive technologies, risk studies, political economies, globalization and health care systems, health-care policy. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and is currently working on a monographic book on risks and failures during commercial surrogacy in India. At present, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the University Medical Center Goettingen working on a project on organised patients’ participation in healthcare.