Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
This book delves into the complex and controversial realm of fertility care. It analyses the clash between evidence-based medicine and market dynamics in fertility treatments, with a unique focus on "add-on" treatments. It reveals how these contentious treatment options are now common practice and how they lead to an emerging market for hope.
With an interdisciplinary approach, this is an essential resource for readers in the fields of science and technology studies and medical sociology.
The Conclusion underscores the significance of promoting responsible innovation within the field of fertility care. It raises concerns regarding the use of the concept of informed choice in context where evidence is lacking and information transparency is not guaranteed, discussing its impact on decision-making processes. Moreover, the chapter explores the regulatory challenges faced by the field and advocates for exploring various forms of corporate responsibility among stakeholders in biomedical innovation. Finally, it considers the broader implications of the growing commercialization of healthcare beyond the field of fertility care.
Chapter Two explores the complexities surrounding evidence in fertility care. It begins by examining the relationship between evidence-based medicine and fertility care, discussing the challenges of generating evidence in a highly commercialized sector. It highlights the premises for rapid innovation, based on the common understanding that the absence of evidence does not imply the evidence of absence of effectiveness. Furthermore, it discusses the delicate balance between the time needed to establish robust evidence and the urgency of providing care, further propelling innovation. In conclusion, the chapter explores patients’ perspectives on evidence, shedding light on their diverse views and concerns.
Chapter Three explores the intricate dynamics of the fertility market, analysing its multifaceted nature where medical assistance, innovation hype, and hope converge with significant ramifications. It offers a detailed examination of the marketing strategies employed in promoting biomedical innovation and contextualizes treatment decision-making within the framework of the hope market. Furthermore, it sheds light on the appeal of these treatments, rooted in their potential to support individuals in achieving their aspirations for parenthood, even in the absence of solid evidence. Finally, the chapter presents scholarly insights into the intricate process by which individuals navigate the complex landscape of informed choice amidst the compelling allure of hope.
The introduction sets the stage for exploring fertility treatment add-ons, showcasing them as a prime example of biomedical innovation in fertility care. It traces the rapid evolution of the field, from the groundbreaking start of in vitro fertilization (IVF) to fertility care becoming a routine treatment. Additionally, it outlines the impact of limited public funding on the commercialization of fertility care, revealing how this shapes the landscape of reproductive medicine worldwide. Lastly, by presenting the concept of the ‘hope market’, the introduction sheds light on the characteristics of a market driven by emotive factors rather than purely economic ones. This lays the groundwork for exploring the broader socio-cultural factors at play in this field.
Chapter Four navigates the crucial realm of regulating a market driven by hope. It meticulously examines the complexities of regulating medical innovation within fertility care, underscoring the importance of fairness in disseminating information to facilitate informed decision-making. The chapter explores pricing strategies and their impact on the affordability of fertility treatments, shedding light on the challenges faced by individuals seeking access to these services.
Chapter One provides an overview of fertility treatment add-ons. It starts by defining what these add-ons entail and then examines the HFEA add-on rating system, exploring the perspectives of both patients and professionals. The chapter addresses the financial aspect by discussing the costs associated with treatment add-ons. Moreover, it scrutinizes the criteria used to classify interventions as treatment add-ons from the viewpoints of patients and professionals alike. Lastly, it challenges conventional assumptions about treatment add-ons, prompting readers to reconsider their understanding of these interventions.
In recent years, security actors have become increasingly concerned with health issues. This book reveals how understandings of race, sexuality and gender are produced/reproduced through healthcare policy.
Analysing the plasma of paid Mexicana/o donors in the US, airport vomit in Ebola epidemics, and the semen of soldiers with genitourinary injuries, this book shows how security practices focus upon governing bodily fluids.
Using a variety of critical scholarship – feminist technoscience, queer studies and critical race studies – this book uses fluids to reveal unequal distributions of life and death.
The final chapter of the book returns to feminist technoscience studies (FTS), to consider the unique contributions FTS has for thinking about biopolitics. The chapter outlines two key contributions from FTS to the study of biopolitics. Firstly, the chapter argues that biopolitical governance is at work in everyday and mundane spaces. Secondly, FTS shows us that the ‘bios’ of biopolitics should not be considered universal human matter; instead, it is always already racialized/sexed/gendered. The chapter finishes by considering the significance of bodily fluids for studying future emergent health issues, and offers a sketch of how bodily fluids may be able to help illuminate the politics of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
Chapter 6 discusses the book’s methodology of ‘following the fluid’. The chapter narrates a chronological story of the book’s research methodology, beginning with a story of failure and difficulty in the project’s early stages. The chapter explores how a queerfeminist gut sense was vital in building a ‘fluid method/ology’; a method/ology that is focused on experimentation, change, and acknowledges contradictions and messiness. Finally, the chapter outlines the practice of ‘following the fluid’ that informs this book. The chapter shows how following a fluid requires us to understand fluids as agential actors within international politics, which can help us map the points of connection and rupture between security assemblages.
