Fragmented and domesticated bodies in assisted reproduction

This article examines the mechanisms producing the meaning of infertility and the new ways of producing life through the use of conceptive reproductive technologies. The normative underpinnings of maternity and/or reproduction are highlighted, as well as the emergence and shaping of this field as a contemporary drive toward the commodification and consumption of biotechnology. Scientific progress, in this case, is incorporated in the techno-embryo, linked to the fetishization of the gene and the assertion of traditional values associated with consanguineous families.