Citation

Shaw R. Sociol. Rev. 2007; 55(2): 293-310.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, The Editorial Board of The Sociological Review, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00706.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper explores the rhetoric of gift-exchange as it pertains to the donation of ovarian eggs (oocytes) and participation in surrogate pregnancy arrangements. It does so by drawing on the analysis of interviews with New Zealand women engaged in these practices. Contrary to the view that women's reproductive gift-giving is intrinsically coercive and exploitative, the narrative accounts of donors involved in this research tend to suggest that women's moral identities as ethical subjects are created in the donative process. Despite this, many anxieties and contradictions involving the exchanges of women involved in donor-assisted reproduction remain. This paper discusses some of these complexities in light of perceptions and theorisations of the gift relationship.