Reprowebs: a conceptual approach to elasticity and change in the global assisted reproduction industry

Abstract

In the last few decades, assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have become increasingly transregional and transnational, often involving travel within or between countries or even continents. Until recently, the global ART industry was marked by so-called ‘reprohubs’—places (such as southern California, Dubai, Anand, and Mumbai) specializing in the provision of reproductive services. While reprohubs continue to exist, in the last few years, many have splayed out, transforming into something more akin to webs that encompass, but go beyond these hubs. These webs show a unique dynamic capability to tighten, entangle, or extend in reaction to local and global changes, a characteristic which became particularly obvious during the global Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper, we propose conceptualizing this new dynamic capability as ‘reprowebs’—an approach that adds a new dimension to the existing conceptualization of reproductive travel and helps us to better understand current developments in the global ART industry.

Inequalities in (trans)national surrogacy: A call for examining complex lived realities with an empirical lens

“…Our respective field studies have brought us both to an understanding that research on contemporary transnational surrogacy is well served by a grounding in perspectives that situate surrogacy as (1) reproductive labor; (2) occurring within a connected, globalized, transactional structure (what König and Jacobson, 2021 refer to as reprowebs); and (3) within specific local meanings. In this article, we present our case for the importance of situating surrogacy empirically by discussing the value of these three groundings before turning to exemplify them within the specific contexts of our respective studies.…”

“…Since the early 2000s, surrogacy has become a global practice, part of what König and Jacobson (2021) call "reprowebs." This concept, building on and extending the concepts of "reproscapes" (Inhorn and Shrivastav, 2010) and "reprohubs" (Inhorn, 2015), captures the ways the reproductive industry is characterized by connected circuits of people (future parents, donors, and surrogates), technologies, medical knowledge and practice, genetic material (sperm, egg, and embryos), representations, and money in a global society.…”

“…Since the early 2000s, surrogacy has become a global practice, part of what König and Jacobson (2021) call “reprowebs.” This concept, building on and extending the concepts of “reproscapes” (Inhorn and Shrivastav, 2010) and “reprohubs” (Inhorn, 2015), captures the ways the reproductive industry is characterized by connected circuits of people (future parents, donors, and surrogates), technologies, medical knowledge and practice, genetic material (sperm, egg, and embryos), representations, and money in a global society. Reprowebs define the interweaving of these elements for reproduction purposes and reflect a kind of “global assemblage” (Ong and Collier, 2005) that requires several bodies and several locations (Waldby, 2012) and the ability to react quickly to change.…”

“…They stage a “global chain of reproductive work” (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2002; Tain, 2013) in which people from different sex, class, and racial groups, from different parts of the world, work together to produce a child. These connected webs now have the ability to move quickly to alternate locations, to shrink or expand depending on the immediate needs (König and Jacobson, 2021).…”

Paperwork: Following the trail of (identity) papers in transnational commercial surrogacy

“…Although India has now closed its doors to foreigners seeking surrogacy, new and often legally uncertain “reprohubs” (Inhorn, 2015) and “repronubs” (see the article by Whittaker, Gerrits, and Weis in this special issue) have emerged on the global surrogacy map. Moreover, in order to circumvent or embrace legal discordance, surrogacy has become hybridized (Whittaker, 2018) and fragmented, taking on the fluid form of “reprowebs” (König and Jacobson, 2021), with gametes donated in one country, IVF performed in another, surrogates traveling back and forth between countries with different legal regulations, and children being born in yet another country. In this global setting—which has recently been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic (König et al, 2020)—the trajectories of documents have become increasingly sinuous, involving several countries with differing legislation.…”