Abstract

In the social worlds of assisted conception and stem cell science, uncertainties proliferate and particular framings of the future may be highly strategic. In this article we explore meanings and articulations of the future using data from our study of ethical and social issues implicated by the donation of embryos to human embryonic stem cell research in three linked assisted conception units and stem cell laboratories in the UK. Framings of the future in this field inform the professional management of uncertainty and we explore some of the tensions this involves in practice. The bifurcation of choices for donating embryos into accepting informed uncertainty or not donating at all was identified through the research process of interviews and ethics discussion groups. Professional staff accounts in this study contained moral orientations that valued ideas such as engendering patient trust by offering full information, the sense of collective ownership of the National Heath Service and publicly funded science and ideas for how donors might be able to give restricted consent as a third option.

Highlights

  • The discourse around human embryonic stem cell research is characterised by narratives of hope and hype (Braude et al 2005, Prainsack et al 2008) and the futurity of such narratives, most often in terms of their scientific, political and commercial ‘promise’ and ‘potential’ (Geesink et al 2008)

  • In this article we explore meanings and articulations of the future using data from our study of ethical and social issues implicated by the donation of embryos to human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research in three linked assisted conception units (ACU) and stem cell laboratories in the UK

  • A limited number of staff were directly involved in the formal consenting process for donation of embryos to hESC research, this necessarily takes place in contexts in which a broader range of staff talk with women and couples and give information to potential donors about possible futures for their embryos, and in which there is a high degree of awareness of the ethical and sometimes controversial aspects of their work

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Summary

Introduction

The discourse around human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is characterised by narratives of hope and hype (Braude et al 2005, Prainsack et al 2008) and the futurity of such narratives, most often in terms of their scientific, political and commercial ‘promise’ and ‘potential’ (Geesink et al 2008). Plans for long-term UK investment in hESC research emphasise its promise for future utility in healing and cure (Department of Health 2005). Michael et al (2007) argue that stem cell scientists themselves have articulated vague and opaque futures which perform uncertainty and wariness in the present. Waldby and Mitchell (2006) highlight uncertain futures or destinations as a key characteristic.

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