Conference New Reproductive Techniques 2011

                            New reproductive techniques, Gender and Parenting

                 Conference organized by the Centre Max Weber (UMR 5283) and INED

 Under the aegis of CMW, INED, the RING research federation and the ISH interdisciplinary seminar.

                                              14 and 15 November 2011

                                                  At University Lyon II

                                               from 8.15 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A major rendezvous for the international scientific community working on new reproductive technologies, this conference will provide a stimulating opportunity for dialogue and debate on many levels. 

Thanks to technical and medical progress, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has developed widely in many countries over the last three decades. In France, since the birth of Amandine in 1982, more than 200,000 children have been conceived through in-vitro fertilization, and in 2003, one in twenty births – representing one or two children in every primary school class – were achieved thanks to a medical treatment or ART. This is no longer a marginal phenomenon.

Yet the development of these techniques raises fundamental questions about the functioning of contemporary society. It is in the public interest for specialist social science researchers to focus on their development, the ways they are used, their effects and their potential impacts on society. These techniques raise new questions with regard to gender relations, the commodification of human bodies and procreation, and the unequal trading and power relations between gamete "supply" and "demand" countries. They also pose a potential challenge to the current model of parenthood.

This meeting will be the first international event of its kind in France, bringing together social science scholars who are nationally and internationally recognized for their work on these issues.

The choice of France as a conference venue is highly opportune, given the recent debates on the revision of the French bioethics Act.

The scientific committee comprises sociologists and demographers from Université Louis Lumière Lyon II, Max Weber Center and the French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED).

 Publications :

http://www.ined.fr/fr/ressources_documentation/publications/cahiers/bdd/publication/1361/

http://www.ined.fr/en/resources_documentation/publications/pop_soc/bdd/publication/1420/