God's laboratory : assisted reproduction in the Andes / Elizabeth F.S. Roberts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roberts, Elizabeth F. S., 1970-

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human reproductive technology--Ecuador.

Human reproductive technology.

Human reproductive technology--Andes Region.

Fertilization in vitro, Human--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

Fertilization in vitro, Human.

Medical anthropology--Ecuador.

Medical anthropology.

Medical anthropology--Andes Region.

Andes Region.

Ecuador.

Reproductive Techniques, Assisted--ethics.

Tissue Donors--psychology.

Tissue Donors--ethics.

Anthropology, Medical.

Catholicism.

Medical Subjects:

Reproductive Techniques, Assisted--ethics.

Tissue Donors--psychology.

Tissue Donors--ethics.

Anthropology, Medical.

Catholicism.

Ecuador.

Physical Description:

xxv, 273 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2012.

Summary:

"Assisted reproduction, with its test tubes, injections, and gamete donors, often raises concerns about nature, life, and kinship. Yet these concerns do not take the same form everywhere. In this innovative ethnography of in vitro fertilization in a small South American country, Elizabeth Roberts shows that in Ecuador, having children through biotechnological intervention is not only accepted but even embraced. Roberts takes us into clinics, laboratories, and homes, providing a textured picture of the integration of these biotechnologies into Andean life, despite widespread poverty and official condemnation from the Catholic Church. Intimate portraits of patients, donors, and practitioners reveal profoundly different understandings of nature and bodies from those in the United States. The Andean understanding of the body as malleable resonates with cutting-edge theories of the material world put forth by contemporary scholars of science and technology. The Ecuadorian embrace of reproductive technology however is less a reflection of a desire to be "modern", than it is a product of colonial racial history, Catholic theologies, and kinship systems. This clearly written account offers a grounded introduction to debates in science studies and medical anthropology, as well as nuanced ethnography of the mingling of science, religion, and history in Andean family life"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : reproductive assistance

Corporeal punishment : Sandra

Private medicine and the law of life

Crazy for bingo : Consuelo

Assisted whiteness

Yo Soy Teresa la Fea/Ugly Teresa

White beauty : gamete donation in a mestizo nation

When blood calls : Frida and Anabela

Egg economies and the traffic between women

Abandonment : Vanessa

On ice : embryo destinies

Conclusion : care-worthy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-254) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

0520270835

9780520270824

0520270827

9780520270831

OCLC:

757476562

Publisher Number:

99966619192