Constructing Parents: The Heteronormative Recruitment of Sperm and Egg Donors in the Reproductive Market

This thesis explores how medical and organization procedures surrounding gamete donation are shaped by cultural understandings of family and gender. Through a qualitative content analysis of the sperm banks, egg banks, and egg donation agencies in the United States, I investigate how the reproductive market relies on heteronormative understandings of gender and family. Findings suggest that gamete banks and donation agencies adopt policies, procedures, and guidelines influenced by gendered parenting roles. Egg donors are constructed as altruistically motivated and family-oriented, mirroring cultural assumptions about mothering. Sperm donors are constructed as elite and financially ambitious breadwinners. Examining the reproductive market through a queer theory lens exposes cultural assumptions about differently sexed and gendered bodies. Egg and sperm donors are expected to provide gender appropriate characteristics, where a tall stature and education are highly valued in sperm donors, and characteristics like motherhood and altruism are valued for egg donors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Halcomb, Laura

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Baumle, Amanda K.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Lee, Shayne
• Kacen, Jacqueline

• Reproductive Technologies
• Queer Theory
• Gamete Donation
• Gender

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10657/1828

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/1828