The Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sociol Health Illn. 2019 Sep;41(7):1323-1337. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12979. Epub 2019 Jul 21.
New biotechnologies such as assisted conception are socially embedded artefacts that raise context-specific ethical, moral and social anxieties. In contexts where the regulations of these profitable developments are limited or ambiguous, and competition between private facilities is high, individual doctors become morally and socially responsible for determining the parameters of administering such therapies. Ethnographic research at two private fertility centres in Colombia reveals that doctors do not determine boundaries based on monetary gain but rather personal morals, social norms and professional obligations. Medical professionals hold diverse perceptions of assisted conception, and often struggle to make decisions regarding who should access such therapies, who are ideal gamete donors and the fate of extra embryos. The complexity of these perceptions applied in a context of limited regulation and the competition of private medicine impacts the praxis of assisted conception. As doctors determine the boundaries of their practice they not only create variation between clinical practices, but also make moral decisions regarding who should be parents, how families should be formed and the significance of embryos. Thus, in navigating their everyday practices, doctors also shape the social world.
新的生物技术，如辅助受孕，是具有社会嵌入性的人工制品，引发了特定于情境的伦理、道德和社会焦虑。在这些有利可图的发展的规定受到限制或模糊，以及私人机构之间竞争激烈的情况下，个体医生在确定管理这些疗法的参数方面负有道德和社会责任。在哥伦比亚的两家私人生育中心进行的民族志研究表明，医生不是基于经济利益而是基于个人道德、社会规范和职业义务来确定界限的。医疗专业人员对辅助受孕有不同的看法，他们经常在谁应该接受这种治疗、谁是理想的配子捐赠者以及多余胚胎的命运等问题上难以做出决定。这些观念的复杂性在有限监管和私人医疗竞争的背景下应用，影响了辅助受孕的实践。随着医生确定他们实践的界限，他们不仅在临床实践中创造了差异，而且还在谁应该成为父母、家庭应该如何组建以及胚胎的意义等方面做出了道德决定。因此，在他们的日常实践中，医生也塑造了社会世界。
