Sot. Sci. Med. Vol. 36, No. 1, PP. 85-93, 1993 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0277-9536/93 S5.00 + 0.00 Copyright 0 1993Pergamon Press Ltd zyxwvutsrq ISSUES OF GENDER IN GAMETE DONATION ERICA HAIMFS Department of Social Policy, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, U.K. Abstract-Gamete donation refers to the practice whereby either semen or eggs are donated by a third party to enable infertile individuals or couples to become parents. This paper examines the way in which gender is deployed as a resource for organizing the meanings attached to that practice. The gender aspects of gamete donation are not always immediately apparent since semen and egg donation are often described as being essentially the same. However, a closer examination indicates that behind the claim of equivalence lies a set of unstated assumptions about their difference. These assumptions are tied to ideas about the ways in which men and women are thought to behave more generally in relation to reproduction and the family. This paper draws on two sources of empirical data to reveal how these assumptions are used: first, data from a detailed analysis of the Wamock Report (established by the British Government in 1982 to inquire into and make recommendations on techniques of human fertilization and embryology), which includes a cross-national and historical comparison with other government reports; second, data from a series of in-depth interviews with members of the Warnock Committee. The analysis of the reports suggests that historically semen donation was associated with ‘deviant’ sexuality (masturbation, adultery, illegitimacy) though paradoxically the extant nature of Semen donation was then used to justify the acceptance of egg donation in later reports. This is despite the fact that in these later reports there are clear, albeit implicit, distinctions drawn between the two procedures in terms of donor motivation, the risks of being a donor, and the consequences of donation. These differences were more marked in the interview data. Committee members regarded egg donors as being very altruistic, whereas they frequently raised doubts about the motivations of semen donors. It is suggested in the discussion section of the paper that assumptions about gender and reproduction lead to egg donation being seen in a familial, clinical and asexual context whereas semen donation is seen in an individualistic, unregulated context of dubious sexual connotations. Therefore whilst assisted reproduction provides the chance to challenge gender assumptions, what we find instead is that the everyday reasoning practices of those involved in these policy discussions leads to a reinforcing of such views. Key words-semen donation, egg donation, gender INTRODUCTION Gamete donation involves the donation of either eggs or semen by a third party to help another individual or couple to have children. Semen donation (other- wise known as artificial insemination by donor- AID; or donor insemination-DI) has been used since 1884 [l] though it gained in popularity in both the United States and Britain in the 1940s. The technique involves the depositing of a quantity of donated semen in a woman’s vagina, by means of a zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH syringe rather than sexual intercourse. It is used when a male partner is either sterile or has a low sperm count or risks passing on a hereditary disease to any genetically related children. It can also be used by women wanting a child but wishing to avoid sexual intercourse with men. Egg donation was first used successfully in 1984 in Australia, after the development of in vitro fertiliza- tion in Britain in the 1970s. The technique involves the co-ordination of the menstrual cycles of the donor and the recipient, the hyperovulation of the donor and then the collection of the eggs using either surgery, laparoscopy or ultrasound. It is used when a woman cannot produce her own eggs for fertilization. Clearly these descriptions of the techniques and uses of gamete donation are not themselves unprob- lematic nor neutral; they raise many questions which can be subjected to further investigation. I wish to examine just one aspect in this paper: the way in which gender is deployed as a resource for organizing the meanings attached to the processes of gamete donation, even at the same time as the apparent significance of gender can be denied. The starting point in this examination is with the not uncommon claim that egg donation is “the female equivalent of sperm donation” [2] or the “exact counterpart of AID” [3]. In so far as both procedures entail the giving of genetic material to others so that those others might have children (itself a deceptively simple description of an enormously complex set of social interactions) [4] this might superficially be true. How- ever, a closer, empirically-based examination of the ways in which semen and egg donation are character- ized shows that they are in fact regarded very differ- ently, even by those who on one level assert their similarity. In this paper I shall argue that these differences arise not just from the different physiological tasks attributed to sperm and eggs in the fertilization process, nor even from the different processes of 85