Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel / Susan Martha Kahn

Kahn, Susan Martha

ISBN 10: 0822325985 / ISBN 13: 9780822325987

Published by Durham: Duke University Press, 2000

About this Item

Near fine paperback copy; wrapper edges very slightly dulled. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description: 227 pages. Contents: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. The time arrived but the father didn t : A New Continuum of Israeli Conception -- 2. Not Mamzers: The Legislation of Reproduction and the Issue of Unmarried Women -- 3. Jewish and Gentile Sperm: Rabbinic Discourse on Sperm and Paternal Relatedness -- 4. Eggs and Wombs: The Origins of Jewishness -- 5. Multiple Mothers: Surrogacy and the Location of Maternity -- 6. Consequences for Kinship -- Conclusion: Reproducing Jews and Beyond -- Appendixes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. Subjects: Human reproduction (Jewish law).Human reproductive technology Law and legislation Israel. Human reproductive technology Religious aspects Judaism. Human reproductive technology Social aspects Israel. 1 Kg.

Seller Inventory # 354129

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel / Susan Martha Kahn
• Publisher: Durham: Duke University Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822325985
• ISBN 13: 9780822325987
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Weight: 1 kilogram

About this title

Synopsis

There are more fertility clinics per capita in Israel than in any other country in the world and Israel has the world's highest per capita rate of in-vitro fertilization procedures. Fertility treatments are fully subsidized by Israeli national health insurance and are available to all Israelis, regardless of religion or marital status. These phenomena are not the result of unusually high rates of infertility in Israel but reflect the centrality of reproduction in Judaism and Jewish culture.

In this ethnographic study of the new reproductive technologies in Israel, Susan Martha Kahn explores the cultural meanings and contemporary rabbinic responses to artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, egg donation, and surrogacy. Kahn draws on fieldwork with unmarried Israeli women who are using state-subsidized artificial insemination to get pregnant and on participant-observation in Israeli fertility clinics. Through close readings of traditional Jewish texts and careful analysis of Israeli public discourse, she explains how the Israeli embrace of new reproductive technologies has made Jewish beliefs about kinship startlingly literal. Kahn also reveals how a wide range of contemporary Israelis are using new reproductive technologies to realize their reproductive futures, from ultraorthodox infertile married couples to secular unmarried women.

As the first scholarly account of assisted conception in Israel, this multisited ethnography will contribute to current anthropological debates on kinship studies. It will also interest those involved with Jewish studies.

About the Author

Susan Martha Kahn is Associate Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School.