In recent years the development and use of assisted reproductive technologies have exploded in China. Since China's first IVF baby was born in 1988, over 350 treatment centres have opened, potentially offering services to the over 90 million estimated infertile individuals in the country today. In addition to IVF, prenatal screening and genetic testing have also increased. This increase in reproductive technologies corresponds with a rise in popular concern about the impact of China's rapid social and environmental change on the nation's reproductive health. Such scientific action and medical attention takes place as the nation struggles to strengthen the quality of the Chinese population while managing population quantity after decades of explicitly eugenic governmental policies.
Our international, interdisciplinary conference, China Repro Tech, offered historical, sociological, and anthropological perspective on these issues. Held at University of Cambridge form the 22-24th October 2015, the conference is programmed to reflect the topical specializations of our participants - from the implications of IVF and infertility to the medicalization of gendered bodies and population policies. Our goals include, sharing research, methodologies, and discussion on the socio-cultural, economic, political and historical landscapes shaping reproduction in China today.
For further information, please read the report.
Organised by Dr. Janelle Lamoreaux