On Having An Own Child: Reproductive Technologies And The Cultural Construction Of Childhood
by Karin Lesnik-Oberstein /
2008 / English / PDF
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How are ideas of genetics, 'blood', the family, and relatedness
created and consumed?This is the first book ever to consider in
depth why people want children, and specifically why people want
children produced by reproductive technologies (such as IVF, ICSI
etc). As the book demonstrates, even books ostensibly devoted to
the topic of why people want children and the reasons for using
reproductive technologies tend to start with the assumption that
this is either simply a biological drive to reproduce, or a
socially instilled desire. This book uses psychoanalysis not to
provide an answer in its own right, but as an analytic tool to
probe more deeply the problems of these assumptions. The idea that
reproductive technologies simply supply an 'own' child is
questioned in this volume in terms of asking how and why
reproductive technologies are seen to create this 'ownness'.Given
that it is the idea of an 'own' child that underpins and justifies
the whole use of reproductive technologies, this book is a crucial
and wholly original intervention in this complex and highly topical
area.
How are ideas of genetics, 'blood', the family, and relatedness
created and consumed?This is the first book ever to consider in
depth why people want children, and specifically why people want
children produced by reproductive technologies (such as IVF, ICSI
etc). As the book demonstrates, even books ostensibly devoted to
the topic of why people want children and the reasons for using
reproductive technologies tend to start with the assumption that
this is either simply a biological drive to reproduce, or a
socially instilled desire. This book uses psychoanalysis not to
provide an answer in its own right, but as an analytic tool to
probe more deeply the problems of these assumptions. The idea that
reproductive technologies simply supply an 'own' child is
questioned in this volume in terms of asking how and why
reproductive technologies are seen to create this 'ownness'.Given
that it is the idea of an 'own' child that underpins and justifies
the whole use of reproductive technologies, this book is a crucial
and wholly original intervention in this complex and highly topical
area.
