Religious and non-religious issues of medically assisted reproduction in France

Sexuality, Incest and Descent

Bibliographic Data

ID5835378
AuthorsCorinne Fortier (0000-0003-0802-232X, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Pages73-81
Publication date2020-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReproductive Biomedicine & Society Online (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2405-6618 • E-ISSN: 2405-6618
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.rbms.2020.10.002
PMID33319080
OpenAlexW3098479015
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited44

It is generally held that assisted reproductive technology has dissociated procreation from sexuality - just as the advent of the pill dissociated sexuality from procreation. My study will show, on the contrary, that sexuality in all its dimensions, including the physical dimension of the circulation of bodily substances as well as the psychological dimension of fantasy, is far from having been removed from new methods of reproduction, even if they do indeed dispense with sexual intercourse, because sexuality cannot be reduced to the sexual act. The circulation of gametes has an often-denied sexual dimension which is revealed in the questions raised by monotheistic religions concerning these techniques. I analyse the position of Sunni Muslim jurists with regard to different reproductive techniques. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, I combine this specific study with a comparative analysis from a religious viewpoint, putting Sunni Islam into perspective with other monotheisms, specifically Judaism and Roman Catholicism, as well as the other branch of Islam represented by Shi'ism. As an anthropologist, I performed a field survey in France on medically assisted reproduction, particularly at the Centre for the Study and Preservation of Human Eggs and Sperm in Paris on the donation of gametes. I will show that the questions raised by monotheist religions regarding medically assisted reproduction are very often the same questions that individuals resorting to these techniques in France ask themselves about the concepts of adultery, incest and descent, particularly when the reproductive process involves a third-party donor

Adultery · Biology · Human sexuality · Islam · Lust · Political science · Population · Psychoanalysis · Reproduction · Sexual intercourse · Sociology · Theology · Demography · Gender Studies · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Genetics

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