STUDY QUESTIONWhat is the impact of law and policy upon the experience of embryo donation for reproductive use?SUMMARY ANSWERAccess to, and experience of, embryo donation are influenced by a number of external factors including laws that impose embryo storage limits, those that frame counselling and approval requirements and allow for, or mandate, donor identity disclosure.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYTo date only three qualitative studies in Australia and New Zealand have been completed on the experience of embryo donation for reproductive purposes, each with a small cohort of interviewees and divergent findings.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONEmbryo donors, recipients, and would-be donors were interviewed between July 2010 and July 2012, with three additional interviews between September 2015 and September 2016, on their experiences of embryo donation. The sampling protocol had the advantage of addressing donation practices across multiple clinical sites under distinct legal frameworks.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODSParticipants were recruited from five Australian jurisdictions and across 11 clinical sites. Twenty-six participants were interviewed, comprising: 11 people who had donated embryos for the reproductive use of others (nine individuals and one couple), six recipients of donated embryos (four individuals and one couple) and nine individuals who had attempted to donate, or had a strong desire to donate, but had been prevented from doing so. In total, participants reported on 15 completed donation experiences; of which nine had resulted in offspring to the knowledge of the donor.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEDonors positively desired donation and did not find the decision difficult. Neither donors nor recipients saw the donation process as akin to adoption . The process and practice of donation varied considerably across different jurisdictions and clinical sites.LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTIONBecause the pool of donors and recipients is small, caution must be exercised over drawing general conclusions. Saturation was not reached on themes of counselling models and future contact.WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSThe differences between our findings and those of a previous study are attributable to varied legal and counselling regimes. Therefore, law and policy governing embryo storage limits, counselling protocols and identity disclosure shape the donation experience and how it is described.STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)This research was supported by Discovery Project Grants DP 0986213 and 15010157 from the Australian Research Council and additional funding from UTS: Law. There are no conflicts of interest to declare.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERNot applicable.

Drawing upon the preliminary findings of an Australian empirical project on cross-border reproduction (CBR), this article argues that regulators and policymakers could learn from the experiences of those who travel overseas in order to access fertility treatment and surrogacy. It makes four principal observations. First, the distinction between so-called ‘altruistic’ and ‘commercial’ gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable and is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR. Secondly, the status of the law in CBR is profoundly equivocal; for participants it is often there and not there at the same time. Thirdly, self-sourced information, from the internet and more specifically social media such as Facebook, is now the principal source of information and peer support for reproductive travellers. Fourthly, and relatedly, domestic reproductive services providers are often sidestepped. If one of the goals of regulation is to minimise the risk of harm to participants, it is not clear that it is currently achieving this aim, and this article argues that any reforms will only work if they are more responsive to the reality of CBR.

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Marking the death of a loved one through the body takes countless forms: the muting of wardrobe, the softening and sporadic breaking ofvoice,andafocusedefforttorecall,recount, and even perform the mannerisms of the dead arejustafewpossibilities.Therearealsounanticipated reactions: the graying of hair, insomnia,dramaticchangesinweightandlibido.The grieving body is a surpassingly expressive canvas of loss. Cumulatively, these signs of grief mayalignwith,orstandinuncomfortablecontrast to, the various Western rituals that otherwisestructuretheendingoflifeandthebeginning of death: viewing the body lying in state; composing eulogies, epitaphs, and obituaries; organizing funerals and internments, wakes andmemorialservices;readingwills;distributinggoods;andsoon.Theseformsandpractices of grief and mourning give shape and duration totheproblemofhowtodisposeproperlyofthe deadandhowthephysicalandemotionaltransformationswroughtbybereavementfindexpressionandmanagement.However,theapparently self-evidentstatesoflifeanddeathandtheirdifference from each other change over time, and thisinturncomplicatesthepersonalandsocial acknowledgmentofmortality.

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