The New Kinship : : Constructing Donor-Conceived Families / / Naomi R. Cahn.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Cahn, Naomi R.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Families, Law, and Society ; 14
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

No federal law in the United States requires that egg or sperm donors or recipients exchange any information with the offspring that result from the donation. Donors typically enter into contracts with fertility clinics or sperm banks which promise them anonymity. The parents may know thedonor’s hair color, height, IQ, college, and profession; they may even have heard the donor’s voice. But they don’t know the donor’s name, medical history, or other information that might play a key role in a child’s development. And, until recently, donor-conceived offspring typically didn’t know that one of their biological parents was a donor. But the secrecy surrounding the use of donor eggs and sperm is changing. And as it does, increasing numbers of parents and donor-conceived offspring are searching for others who share the same biological heritage. When donors, recipients, and “donor kids” find each other, they create new forms of families that exist outside of the law. The New Kinship details how families are made and how bonds are created between families in the brave new world of reproductive technology. Naomi Cahn, a nationally-recognized expert on reproductive technology and the law, shows how these new kinship bonds dramatically exemplify the ongoing cultural change in how we think about family. The issues Cahn explores in this book will resonate with anyone-and everyone-who has struggled with questions of how to define themselves in connection with their own biological, legal, or social families.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Part I. Explorations: the meaning of family and the terrain of the donor world -- 1. Peopling the donor world -- 2. The meaning of family in a changing world -- Part II. Creating donor-conceived families and communities -- 3. Creating families -- 4. Creating communities across families -- Part III. The law and donor families -- 5. The laws of the donor world: parents and children -- 6. Law, adoption, and family secrets: disclosure and incest -- Part IV. To regulate or not? -- 7. Reasons to regulate -- 8. Regulating for connection -- 9. Regulating for health and safety: setting limits in the gamete world -- 10. Why not to regulate -- Conclusion. Challenging and creating kinship -- Notes -- Index -- About the author