THE OOCYTE MARKET AND SOCIAL EGG FREEZING: From scarcity to singularity

Abstract

Human oöcytes (eggs) have proved quite resistant to the gift system that regulates much tissue donation in the developed nations. With a few exceptions, they move from donor to recipient through incentive systems, including high rates of compensation and frank payment. Recently, women have turned in small but growing numbers to private oöcyte banking as a way to preserve and defer their fertility. This paper draws on interviews with both clinicians and clients to consider the ways that women use private banking to manage fertility. It argues that the move from purchasing third-party fertility to private banking is a move from a scarcity economy, where lack is resolved in exchange (Simmel), to an economy of singularities (Karpik) where the autologous genetic signature of the materiel renders it non-commensurable. Hence, its value can only be realised through preservation and private retention.