Cosmopolitan Conceptions: IVF Sojourns in Global Dubai
Marcia C. Inhorn is William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology and The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. She is the coeditor of Medical Anthropology at the Intersections: Histories, Activisms, and Futures, also published by Duke University Press.
Restrictions: Religious Bans and Law Evasion
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Published:July 2015
Many infertile couples travel to avoid their countries’ assisted reproduction laws, which may prohibit particular services such as third-party sperm and egg donation. Europe has the highest number of such laws, and hence the highest number of law evaders. Some of these European “outlaws” are making their way to Dubai for services that are illegal in their home countries. However, the UAE, which once boasted the Middle East’s most permissive assisted reproduction system, has recently become the world’s most restrictive. In 2010, the UAE passed an Islamically inspired assisted reproduction law, characterized by “legal devolution,” or law enforcement delegated to...
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