Blood and other substances: new reproductive technologies and adoption in popular groups in southern Brazil

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research in a public hospital that offers assisted reproduction services and in low income communities in the city of Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, this article focuses on cases in which the use of conceptive reproductive technologies for couples is related to the type of relationship established with public health services. The paper also discusses how the fact that people seek medical attention does not invalidate adoption as a way of establishing kinship ties. The aim is to question discourses about the spread of new reproductive technologies, which are generally based on vague definitions of what is called a desire for biological children. In addition, the article reflects on the specific nature of adoption among the working classes in the context of dissemination of such reproductive technologies.