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Paper short abstract

This paper will explore the tensions exposed by time in the administration of third-party reproduction in France. Drawing on an ethnography of the gamete recruitment process in public ART centers, it will focus on “glitches” (delays, cancellations…) in the experience of fertility professionals.

Paper long abstract

Time is central to assisted reproductive technologies (ART): protocols must synchronise with bodily rhythms, treatment schedules unfold over months, sometimes racing against declining reproductive capacities and age. In France, the 2021 expansion of donor conception access to lesbian couples and single women led to a dramatic increase in demand–inseminations with donor sperm rose 4.3-fold between 2021 and 2024–, which was not met by proportional increases in funding or staffing. Consequently, wait times for donor gametes have also increased dramatically, reaching an average of 1.5 years for spermatozoa and 2 years for eggs in 2025. Time remains, therefore, of the essence in ART in France.

This paper will focus on “glitches”– delays, cancellations, difficulties to organise appointments–through an ethnographic study (June 2025-May 2026) of the gamete donor recruitment process in 5 French public ART centres. I will reflect on my own experience of time during observations and interviews with the various practitioners involved (biologists, gynaecologists, psychologists, genetic counsellors). I will also analyse paradoxical discourses, such as professionals demanding time to properly assess a donor candidate’s profile, while expressing frustrations when colleagues in other departments take time to complete their tasks. This will allow for a discussion on how time reveals broader tensions in the organisation of third-party reproduction, particularly in the daily realities faced by fertility professionals navigating the French bioethical framework for third-party reproduction, as well as the challenges of public hospital administration.