Synopses & Reviews
and#147;What happens when sex cells sell? Do human bodies become degraded objects of commerce? Challenging simplistic accounts of commodification, Almeling offers a compelling analysis of contemporary markets for eggs and sperm. A superb contribution to 21st century economic sociology.and#8221; -Viviana A. Zelizer, author of
Economic Lives: How Culture Shapes the Economyand#147;This is a highly informative book. Almeling provides a balanced approach to this highly controversial subject. Although you might be conflicted by the ethical issues, you will definitely be extremely well-informed when you finish this book.and#8221; -Alan H. DeCherney, MD, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
and#147;Almeling offers a wonderfully thoughtful analysis and an innovative cultural lens for viewing the gendered lives of sex cells and their commodification in the contemporary USA.and#8221; -Rayna Rapp, author of Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Impact of Amniocentesis in America
Review
"[Almeling] pulls back the curtain on the egg and sperm market. . . . and#8216;Sex Cellsand#8217; explains how this unique industry shapes the way we think about gender and parenthood.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Almeling learned that when it comes to donating genetic material, men and women are groomed very differently.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;One of the fascinating aspects of Almelingand#8217;s research is that she explored how donors, both egg and sperm, perceive their own roles in a family.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Interviews with sperm and egg donors reveal an interesting dichotomy [that] may say a lot about how we view motherhood and fatherhood.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;An inside look at how egg agencies and sperm banks do business.and#8221;
Synopsis
A healthy pregnancy is now defined well before pregnancy even begins. Public health messages promote pre-pregnancy health and health care by encouraging reproductive-age women to think of themselves as mothers before they think of themselves as women. This happens despite little evidence that such an approach improves maternal and child health. This book examines the dramatic shift in ideas about reproductive risk and birth outcomes over the last several decades, unearthing how these ideas intersect with the politics of women's health and motherhood at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Synopsis
In the United States, a healthy pregnancy is now defined well before pregnancy begins. Public health messages encourage women of reproductive age to anticipate motherhood and prepare their bodies for healthy reproduction--even when pregnancy is not on the horizon. Some experts believe that this pre-pregnancy care model will reduce risk and ensure better birth outcomes than the prenatal care model. Others believe it represents yet another attempt to control women's bodies.
The Zero Trimester explores why the task of perfecting pregnancies now takes up a woman's entire reproductive life, from menarche to menopause. Miranda R. Waggoner shows how the zero trimester rose alongside shifts in medical and public health priorities, contentious reproductive politics, and the changing realities of women's lives in the twenty-first century. Waggoner argues that the emergence of the zero trimester is not simply related to medical and health concerns; it also reflects the power of culture and social ideologies to shape both population health imperatives and women's bodily experiences.
Synopsis
Unimaginable until the twentieth century, the clinical practice of transferring eggs and sperm from body to body is now the basis of a bustling market. In Sex Cells, Rene Almeling provides an inside look at how egg agencies and sperm banks do business. Although both men and women are usually drawn to donation for financial reasons, Almeling finds that clinics encourage sperm donors to think of the payments as remuneration for an easy "job." Women receive more money but are urged to regard egg donation in feminine terms, as the ultimate "gift" from one woman to another. Sex Cells shows how the gendered framing of paid donation, as either a job or a gift, not only influences the structure of the market, but also profoundly affects the individuals whose genetic material is being purchased.
About the Author
Rene Almeling is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale University.