Category: Organizations

Article: 44 Siblings and Counting

44 Siblings and Counting
By Ariana Eunjung Cha | The Washington Post | Sept. 12, 2018

The midsummer reunion in a suburb west of the city looks like any other, but these family ties can’t be described with standard labels. Instead, Arroyo, a 21-year-old waitress from Orlando, is here to meet “DNA-in-laws,” various “sister-moms” and especially people like Sophia, a cherished “donor-sibling.”

This article follows Kianni Arroyo, one of many children created using sperm from “donor #2757,” in her quest to find her donor-siblings. It tracks country-specific caps on donor births, as well as efforts of organizations like Donor Sibling Registry that urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to limit the number of births per donor, mandate reporting of donor-conceived births, and require donors to provide post-conception medical updates.

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Organization: The Hastings Center

The Hastings Center
United States

The Hastings Center focuses on ethical and social issues in health care, science, and technology.  The organization describes itself as “the oldest independent, nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute of its kind in the world,” producing original research, voice, and service to the field of bioethics, helping shape lay and institutional thinking on ways biotechnologies impact the health and human rights of those involved.

Visit the website >

 

Organization: Sama – Resource Group for Women and Health

Sama – Resource Group for Women and Health
India | 1999

Sama is a Delhi-based organization working on issues of women’s health and human rights. A key focus is assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and international commercial surrogacy.

Sama documents and makes visible the experiences of gestational mothers and the risks they face in international commercial surrogacy arrangements. The organization examines issues within the framework of gender, class, caste, religion, ethnicity, and other power dynamics within South Asian society and between South Asia and other countries/regions. Visit Sama’s website for more information.

Aside from the acclaimed film “Can We See the Baby Bump Please?” and report “Birthing A Market,” Sama has produced a vital collection of research on ARTs and surrogacy.

Their publications include:

Visit Sama’s website for a full list.

Organization: Center for Genetics and Society

Center for Genetics and Society
United States

United StatesThe Center for Genetics and Society (CGS) is a public-interest organization based in California working to reclaim human biotechnologies for the common good.

CGS brings a social justice, human rights, and public interest perspective to human genetic and assisted reproductive technologies and practices, supporting those that are beneficial and opposing those that threaten to increase inequality, discrimination, and conflict.

CGS provides a range of digital resources that track and analyze developments on issues related to the social meaning of human biotechnologies including: a robust website and active presence on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; Biopolitical Times, a longstanding blog with staff and guest contributors; and Talking Biopolitics, a series of conversations with leading thinkers, ethicists, and researchers. Learn more and visit the CGS website for a full overview of resources.

Their newest project, Pop A.R.T., explores the influence of art and culture on public opinion and policy decisions about biotechnologies. This column includes, among others, a look at the blurred lines between reality and reality TV, musings from a comic fan, revisiting Gattaca in the age of Trump, why we love(d) Orphan Black, and the latest on Bollywood’s birds and bees.

Happy browsing!

Organization: Our Bodies Ourselves

Our Bodies Ourselves
United States

Our Bodies Ourselves logoOur Bodies Ourselves (OBOS) is a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts that develops and promotes evidence-based information on girls’ and women’s reproductive health and sexuality.

OBOS addresses the social, economic, and political conditions that affect health care access and quality of care. This contextual information has inspired readers to learn more about and to change laws and policies that affect their own and their family’s well-being.

The OBOS Global Initiative works with women’s organizations around the world that have translated and adapted “Our Bodies, Ourselves” to their country’s unique cultural needs. Many of these groups are addressing assisted reproductive technologies via their own work and in collaboration with OBOS (visit Global Collaborations for more information).

Surrogacy360 is one example of the Global Initiative’s work toward greater transparency and awareness concerning international commercial surrogacy.

Read recent blogs by the organization on the issue and the broader implications of assisted reproductive technologies, including:

Learn more and visit the website >