Reproductive Travel to Ghana: Testimonies, Transnational Relationships, and Stratified Reproduction

Med Anthropol. 2018 Feb-Mar;37(2):131-144. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2017.1419223. Epub 2018 Feb 5.

Abstract

In this article, I address reproductive travel to Ghana, based on research conducted in two private fertility clinics. Both clinics attract clients from West African countries as well as Ghanaian people living in the US and Europe. Their motivations to visit these clinics include positive "testimonies" about treatment results, "bioavailability" of matching donor material and surrogates, lower treatment costs and the circumvention of restricting regulations in the country of residence. Communication technologies are central in facilitating reproductive travel. Finally, I argue that the "international choreographies" of reproductive travel are co-shaped by the unique biographies and transnational relationships of the people involved.

Keywords: Ghana; assisted reproductive technologies; donor material; reproductive travel; surrogacy; testimonies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anthropology, Medical
  • Female
  • Ghana / ethnology
  • Humans
  • Internationality
  • Male
  • Medical Tourism*
  • Middle Aged
  • Reproductive Techniques, Assisted*
  • Surrogate Mothers
  • Tissue Donors