Social Construction of the Fetus: Reflections on the Development of Anthropology of Selective Reproductive Technologies

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Anthropology, University of Tehran

2 Assistant professor of Anthropology Department, University of Tehran

3 Department of Epidemiology and Reproductive Health, Reproductive Epidemiology, Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Advances in assisted and selective reproductive technologies have changed the meaning and significance of the fetus and child in the world. For the first time, reproductive selection takes place before birth in order to prevent the birth of children with fetal abnormalities and allow only "healthy" children to live. These technologies, which migrate to developing countries over time, are not neutral products. As Foucault said, they are “apparatus’’ that is situated at the heart of the figuration of indigenous culture as “cultural form”. Usually, medical pioneers legitimize, normalize, and standardize these innovations in a temporal and historical process, removing barriers and taboos. This is where birth changes from a purely biological matter or a personal choice to an economic, political, cultural, and social one. In other words, governments have moved beyond the quantity of population control over the past few decades to control the quality of the population. Therefore, having a healthy child is not just an individual fantasy, but its realization depends to a large extent on government policies. The purpose of this article is to pay attention to the necessity of anthropological studies in this field, and to the question of whether the application of these technologies is necessary or useful.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Anthropological Research
Volume 10, Issue 1 - Serial Number 19
Indexing Databases
September 2020
Pages 55-79

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