Invisible Vulnerabilities: Ethical, Practical and Methodological Dilemmas in Conducting Qualitative Research on the Interaction with IVF Embryos

Catarina Delaunay,Amélia Augusto,Mário Santos

doi:10.3390/soc10010007

Abstract

The burden of deciding the fate of the supernumerary human embryo created in vitro in the context of Assisted Reproductive Technologies rests on the beneficiary couples or individuals who conceived the parental project. The beneficiaries must also take on the responsibility of choosing whether to donate surplus embryos either to others or to scientific research, or to request their destruction. Vulnerable beings, weakened from the point of view of their identity (facing the social stigma still associated with some circumstances such as being infertile, lesbian or a single mother), are required to have skills such as reflexivity and autonomy in dramatic situations that concern their relationship with their own reproductive body. Given the urgency of this issue at the socio-anthropological level, we are conducting ethnographic research aimed at analysing how specialists and lay people objectivate, evaluate and circulate different conceptions of the human embryo in vitro. Based on our research experience within this ongoing project, we intend to discuss some ethical, practical and methodological concerns for the researcher in accessing the field and conducting fieldwork. We take into account the fact that this research is focused on sensitive topics and on individuals who can be considered people in vulnerable situations.

Highlights

There is a long tradition within the social sciences of reflecting on and discussing the potential impact of different research methods on research participants
On the basis of an ongoing project, in this paper we intend to discuss some ethical, practical and methodological concerns that emerge when conducting fieldwork in a particular healthcare setting, namely, in the contexts of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and laboratory-based embryo research, to find out how people interact with in vitro human embryos
ART beneficiaries— infertile people—are, at different points in their lives, both vulnerable and empowered human beings, who are asked to assume a “grammar of responsibility” [28] in order to make a decision about the fate of cryopreserved embryos

Summary

Introduction

There is a long tradition within the social sciences of reflecting on and discussing the potential impact of different research methods on research participants. On the basis of an ongoing project, in this paper we intend to discuss some ethical, practical and methodological concerns that emerge when conducting fieldwork in a particular healthcare setting, namely, in the contexts of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and laboratory-based embryo research, to find out how people interact with in vitro human embryos. These concerns are heightened due to the sensitive nature of the research and the presumed vulnerable status of the ART beneficiaries. Beyond questioning the level of the researcher’s interference and pointing to its potential problems, we discuss how this interference may be productive, rending visible the otherwise invisible social existence of human embryos

Invisible Vulnerabilities

Making IVF Embryos Visible

On the Productive Potential of Researching Vulnerable Subjects

Conclusions