Accountings of Selecting Sperm on the (ethical) border

During the past years, Denmark has become a destination for fertility travellers, in need for donated sperm. Today, treatment is possible no matter of marital status or sexuality. Furthermore, users of sperm donation can choose between anonymous and non-anonymous sperm, with either basic information (phenotypical descriptions) or extended profiles, including descriptions of the donors hobbies, looks and likes.

I find fertility travellers crossing the Danish border particularly interesting, because many of them travel in order to bypass a national legislation. In this presentation, I will analyze how women and their partners crossing the Danish border accounts for their donor choice, and their practices of choosing. I will be exploring the question: How are women and their partners accounting for choosing a sperm donor, crossing the (ethical) border to Denmark?

The use of the term accountability is central, because it implies both a theoretical and methodological inspirations from Donna Haraway and Karen Barad. The idea is to use accountability as a theoretical and methodological concept that enables the development of an ethics of practices.

The presentation is based on a multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork at a Danish private fertility clinic, and a Danish sperm bank. The presentation will mainly draw on interviews with fertility travellers going through treatment with donor sperm in Denmark.