Reproduction and Technology

Introduction

Technology is ever evolving in areas of media, cell-phones, medical devices and internet. With changes in the technology, the impact it makes on individuals and families is two-folded. As the technological advancement is transforming the ways families interact, it is also paving the new ways in medical area especially in reproduction assistance (Waynforth, 2018). In the past, infertility was considered as a medical condition due to which several of the academicians poured their thoughts on eradicating and fighting with the problem of infertility. However, with passing time, the focus shifted towards seeing infertility through the lens of bioethics while focusing on whether or not the couples should adopt new reproductive technologies for reproduction (Bos & Rooij, 2017). The shift was again seen as infertility and new reproductive technologies were seen under the ethical and moral issues including agenda of sex selection. However, not much of the research has been done in order to understand the concept of infertility under social sciences. 

Under sociology, the concept of infertility and reproductive technologies is of upmost importance for two reasons. Firstly, it is important to understand how new medical techniques like surrogacy, sex selection and artificial insemination require public policy and legal decisions. Secondly, the role of parenting and child development in case of having children with new reproductive technologies requires a bit clearance (Bos & Rooij, 2017). Moreover, there is a strong need to see how genetic relationships and same-sex parenthood arrangements might affect the child development in case of reproduction through technology decisions. 

The medical advancement in the infertility and reproduction field is coming at a rapid pace and is shaping up the family structures (Baldwin, et al., 2014). Research related to the new technologies in the field of reproductive health of women is quite important because such research is concerned with creation of future generation. Insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryos manipulation have altogether changed the concept of reproduction (Wilkinson, et al., 2019). The assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have become increasingly effective with availability of sophisticated technology in past decade. The new reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization (IVF) and infracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have been the core subject of heated debates amongst the academics, policy makers and medical ethicists (Bos & Rooij, 2017). 

Given the rising concerns and attention regarding reproduction technologies under sociology and social sciences, this report will outline the impact of key reproductive technologies on families of choice and child development in the light of available recent literature. Furthermore, the impact of reproductive technology on couple’s relationship and decisions regarding pregnancy will also be outlined in the following report. 

Families of Choice & Reproduction 

A typical family is formed through kinship and residence that resides in one household, emphasizes on loving marriage relationship, depends on husband’s income and socializes children independently from the extended kin (Alesina & Giuliano, 2010). Kinning is defined as the process through which a new born child is brought into a permanent relationship within a group of people that are expressed in kin idiom (Carmeli, 2020). However, the process is not so much easy in the same gendered relationships like gay marriage and lesbian marriage. Lesbian and gay parented families are most often viewed under the “families of choice” concept that assumes this same-gender relationship to be self-reflexive and innovative in structure (Dempsey, 2010). 

A family of choice is defined under sociology as the “intimate or close relationship that is voluntarily chosen rather than the relationship that is defined via blood or marriage” (Dempsey, 2010). As the families are increasingly becoming a matter of choice, the choices about forming intimate relationships are widening all the time (Dempsey, 2010). In this non-heterosexual world, over past decade, a growing acceptance regarding same sex marriage and partnership has been experienced widely. In the society at large, the development in this non-heterosexual world has been closely linked with how family is described and how the reproduction and conception is viewed in same-sex marriage/partnership. Under sociology, the lesbian and gay family is considered to be self-defined and is viewed as a classic example of “families of choice” (Weeks, et al., 2000). 

With growing acceptance of lesbian and gay families, the demise of traditional conceptions of family and traditional way of reproduction for children has been experienced. In this instance, the role of reproductive technology is of prime importance especially for the lesbian, gay & biosexual (LGB) families (Dempsey, 2010). The research indicates that the increased confidence amongst non-heterosexuals has been asserting their competence as parents and is validating their ability to continue as a parent in today’s world. Controversially, the main factor that is pushing the trend of non-heterosexuals to become parents and define themselves as “families of choice” is due to the development of new productive technologies and access to it (Weeks, et al., 2000). With the sophisticated reproductive technologies, the conventional view of seeing conception as a product of heterosexual sex has been shunned completely due to which the possibility for non-heterosexual parenting has emerged throughout the globe.