Paper short abstract:

Through the analysis of the reproductive narratives of women and men who conceived by means of assisted reproduction in Chile, this article aims to understand how these parents accommodate and curtail global reproductive technologies to their local realities.

Paper long abstract:

Since the birth of the first baby conceived as the result of in vitro fertilization in 1978, new reproductive technologies have diversified and globalized. However, as shown by the studies of anthropologists in societies as different as Israel, Egypt, Ecuador and China, use of these technologies is reconfigured according to each local context. Healthcare professionals and potential patients only accept multiple options made available by assisted reproduction techniques when these are seen as reasonable within the context of social relations and cultural norms existing in each society.

In Chile, having children is considered to be the 'natural' way of things for every person and couple. Becoming a parent is perceived as something essential to personal fulfillment, especially for women. While birth control methods have made people feel that they can control conception, couples facing infertility see this illusion of control fall apart and have to face reproductive uncertainty.

Through the analysis of the reproductive narratives of women and men who conceived by means of assisted reproduction in Chile, this article aims to understand how these parents accommodate and curtail global reproductive technologies to their local realities. When opting for assisted reproduction, these parents have to make decisions about embryos to be implanted, cryopreservation of fertilized eggs, donation of eggs and embryos. These decisions place them in totally unknown scenarios and up against new uncertainties. They have to intervene in matters they believe to be the domain of God or Nature.