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Religions and Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Comparative Global Perspectives

Religions and Assisted Reproductive Technologies cover

Religions and Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Comparative Global Perspectives

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Description

Global, interdisciplinary, and intersectional, this book examines the discourses on and interplay between religion and Assisted Reproductive Technologies, shedding light on how religious beliefs and practices can adapt to contemporary challenges.

Investigating the issue from diverse theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary perspectives, this book serves as a reference for scholars and students engaging with the intersection of religion and ART. To contextualise this contemporary debate, the book also contains chapters on past eras focusing on mythological narratives. These interrogate stories detailing surrogacy and male pregnancies, and case-studies in which a deity, or a priest, personally solve infertility.

The historical relationship between religion and ART has been complex and often contradictory. Offspring have been considered divine gifts, juxtaposed with infertility, which has be construed as a form of divine punishment. This book explores, however, that in an era marked by escalating fertility challenges, there now exists a compelling need to explore how religion grapples and adjusts alongside the advancements in ART.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
Introduction, Giulia Pedrucci (University of Verona, Italy).

Part I. Mythological and Religious Imaginaries of Reproduction
1. The fatherless children of Hera: Divine punishments for non-ordinary reproductions in Greek mythology, Giulia Pedrucci (University of Verona, Italy).
2. Hindu Surrogacy Myths and their Socio-Legal Afterlives, Sucharita Sarkar (University of Mumbai, India).
3. Children of Gods: Hindu Narrative Imaginary on ART, Namrata Chatturvedi (University of Delhi, India).
4. The Sacredness of the Uterus: Biohacking as Religious Practice in Black Speculative Feminism Fiction, Patricia A. Gwozdz (University of Potsdam, Germany).
Part II. Religious Endorsements, Resistances, and Negotiations
5. Islamic perspectives on IVF and surrogacy, Sabine Ahmadzai (University of Frankfurt, Germany).
6. Exploring the Impact of Catholicism on Reproductive Technologies in Argentina: A Qualitative Insight from ART Users and Experts, Ana Lucía Olmos Álvarez (Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda, Argentina). & María Cecilia Johnson (Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad, CONICET Argentina).
7. God's Plan or Political Decisions? Navigating Reproductive Technologies amidst Poland's Catholic Landscape, Natalia Grabke (Heidelberg University, Germany).
8. Assisted Reproduction for Lesbian Women in 1980s Belgium: Medical Practice and Moral Pluralism, Tinne Claes (KU Leuven, Belgium).
Part III. Law, Philosophy, and Theological Reflections
9. (In)Fertility and Gamete Donation in Iran: Between Biopolitics, Law, and Islamic Shi'i Shari'a, Ladan Rahbari (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands).
10. Leading one's own life. Religious reasons in deliberating the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies, Michael Roseneck (University of Frankfurt, Germany).
11. Ancient and contemporary narratives. The cultural and symbolic roots of art, Simona Sanchirico (DG ABAP, Italy).
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 10 Dec 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 272
ISBN 9781350557376
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 3 bw illus
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Series Bloomsbury Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Giulia Pedrucci

Giulia Pedrucci is Visiting Researcher at Comenius…

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