A Realpolitik of Ethics. Behind the Specificity of the French ART System (1972–1994)

Abstract

This paper provides a fresh look at the specificity of French ART rules. Re-exploring the genesis of sperm banks and the emergence of ART regulation in the 1970s and 80s involves considering a sequence during which several options were competing and no “national path” was defined. Sperm banking constituted the locus of tensions concerning the social status of doctors, their place within the institutional landscape, and the impact of biomedicine. The Centres d’étude et de conservation du sperme humains (CECOS)’ “victory” did not result from its intrinsic features, but rather from their leader's integrated conception of ART and political sense.