Abstract

Involving a third person in a child's conception raises many difficult issues and dilemmas. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the place of third party assisted conception within health care provision, drawing on local ethical and religious standpoints as well as political and economic factors.

Eric Blyth and Ruth Landau have brought together authors from a broad range of professional backgrounds to consider the social, legal and ethical aspects of third party assisted conception in thirteen countries dispersed through North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Third Party Assisted Conception Across Cultures addresses many contemporary social issues including the role of the state in family creation, the changing forms and conceptualizations of a 'family' and concerns about the potential commodification of body-parts and functions.

All health care practitioners and policymakers who wish to develop their knowledge and understanding of the policies underlying third party assisted conception practice and the ethical context surrounding it, will find this book invaluable.

Compact as it is, this book contains a wealth of fascinating research into the way in which assisted conception is regarded at social, legal and ethical levels in each of thirteen countries across the world, from places as diverse as Argentina and Finland, Singapore and Poland. The book presents a wealth of facts in a most digestible format. It fascinates as much as it informs.
British Journal of Social Work
Anyone concerned with the artificial creation of families, including adoption, should study this volume and take note of what happens when relatively unregulated processes, dominated by money, medical technology and the needs of adults, reign supreme.
Adoption and Fostering
Given the government's recent decision to allow infertile couples one course of IVF on the NHS more people will have access to third party assisted conceptions, this is a timely book, writes Kathryn Evans. It may answer some of the myriad questions raised by those unfamiliar with the subject. The introduction provides a readable potted history of assisted conceptions in each country despite international knowledge of the different techniques.
Community Care