Silent Subject: The Child in the Debate on Assisted Reproduction in Poland

Maciejewska-Mroczek, Ewa

doi:0137-4079

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Title: Silent Subject: The Child in the Debate on Assisted Reproduction in Poland

Abstract:

This article explores the social construction of the “IVF child” in Poland. In this country where Catholicism is the dominant religion, attitudes towards in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and, more generally, assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are clearly mirroring and reproducing the nation’s values. Based on official church teachings, the “IVF child” is a new subject of concern. Research conducted with children who were conceived in this manner proves that they are important actors, whose voices need to be included into the anthropological analysis of ARTs. The ways in which they articulate their understanding of ARTs shows both the pervasiveness of anti-IVF voices and the active roles children play in producing their own meanings

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