Magical Progeny, Modern Technology: A Hindu Bioethics of Reproductive Technology
Through her book, Magical Progeny, Modern Technology: A Hindu Bioethics of Reproductive Technology, Dr. Swasti Bhattacharyya enters the debate on the bioethics of reproductive technology through a Hindu and Indian cultural and ideological perspective. Dr. Bhattacharyya began as a nurse, and is now a philosophy and religion professor. Her background in the healthcare field is exemplified throughout her book by her knowledge of the medical and scientific side of reproductive technology. As a philosophy and religion professor of Hinduism, Dr. Bhattacharyya is able to bring a new and important perspective into the debate. In order to better understand the topic of the bioethics behind reproductive technology, it is important to seek viewpoints different than our own, from cultures that are not our own.
Dr. Bhattacharyya uses examples of Indian tradition, Hindu beliefs, and stories from the book of Mahabharata, an Indian epic with stories that can be related to real life, to explain her cultures perspectives in regards to the debate of reproductive technology. In America, people don’t typically see procreation as the general public’s business, and tend to have babies for their own reasons. In Indian culture however, procreation is viewed very differently, as exemplified by the quote, “Infertility, fertility, and having babies are not considered private, individual issues… The actions of individuals, particularly regarding procreative issues, affect the family, society, and ultimately all of life” (Bhattacharyya 87). This quote serves to demonstrate that Dr. Bhattacharyya’s views are coming from a culture that’s vastly different than our own, and she is able to provide a perspective that we may not have thought of. Another example is Dr. Bhattacharyya’s use of the story of Kunti from the Mahabharata. In the story, Kunti struggles with her fulfillment of Dharma, basically a path that individuals should follow that informs them on how to behave fairly and compassionately in society. Kunti is gifted a mantra that can bless her with children. Kunti first uses this mantra while unmarried, but fears what society will think of her having children when not married. After Kunti is married, she realizes that she now has a responsibility to procreate, which she didn’t have before. Kunti again uses the mantra, and feels she has fulfilled her Dharma.
It seems in Hindu cultural that it is imperative to have offspring when married, in order to fulfill a societal expectation. I see a connection between this and the Mitzvah of having many offspring for Orthodox Jewish people. If a woman is unable to conceive, she may feel she let her family, cultural, or even herself down. This is an interesting point that brings a new stance to the debate, as reproductive technology can be used to provide women with children, leading to many living more fulfilled lives.
Marriage, Sex, and the Family in Judaism
Marriage, Sex, and the Family in Judaism, written by Emory University law and religion professor Michael J. Broyde, provides the reader with various perspectives and opinions on the concept of reproductive technologies and how they relate to Jewish marriage and life. The book does not seek to give one definitive stance on the subject, rather it presents the reader with essays, research, and viewpoints, that range from all sides to help the reader form their own beliefs on the topic of how modern fertility treatments could be permissible or prohibited in Jewish law.
This was an interesting subject to read about, as the answer can not be found in any one text alone. Even the Torah states that we should ““Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and master it” (Genesis 1:28), while later giving rules and laws that seem to contradict this. Much like Hinduism, Judaism seems to place a great importance on the responsibility to procreate. However, when traditional procreation is not an option for some people, it becomes important to discuss if reproductive technologies should be allowed in Jewish law. One form of reproductive technology discussed is sperm donations. A sperm donation is when a man who is not the woman’s husband, donates his sperm to be injected into a woman, leading to fertility. In traditional Jewish law, the husband is seen as the offspring’s father, and the woman is the mother. Through a sperm donation these concepts seem convoluted as a man who is not the husband, would technically be the biological father of the offspring. To help with this issue, Jewish law states that a sperm donation is only permissible if the sperm donor is not Jewish. This way the woman would not be able to validly marry the sperm donor in Jewish law, since he is not Jewish, and the father of the offspring would be considered the woman’s husband. It was interesting to see the ways Jewish law sought to explain the various forms of reproductive technology.
Made in India
Made in India is a film that follows an American woman, Lisa Switzer, in her journey dealing with the complicated world of outsourcing a surrogate mother. Lisa and her husband Brian have wanted and tried for children for years, but sadly Lisa is infertile. The couple decide to try a surrogate mother, but find the process to be too expensive in America. They decide to “outsource” a surrogate mother in India. The story continues in Mumbai, India as the selected surrogate mother, Aasia Khan, is implanted with the couple’s embryos. What follows is a complicated view of the ethical and social implications that arise from reproductive technologies. The film shows the hardships of going through such a process from the side of both the surrogate mother and the couple trying to conceive. Aasia Khan, the surrogate mother, must contend with social backlash from her friends, family, and culture, to go through with the delivery of the couples’ twins, in order to be paid for her service. The couple, back in America, also struggles with the legal issues that arise, and the ethical issues that India’s culture has with the topic of surrogacy. An example of this is when the hospital that delivers the couple’s twins refuses to recognize Lisa as their real mother, until the couple fights for a DNA test to be done. This was a very interesting movie, that was based off of real life stories, as it provides a visual context for the debate of the ethics and social ramifications for reproductive technologies.
I think that you make an interesting point in comparing Dr. Bhattacharyya’s explanation of the Hindu religious obligation to bear children with that of Jewish “Mitzvah”. I felt the quote you included from Bhattacharyya’s work stating that Indian culture considers childbirth or infertility a public issue is similar to how Kahn describes Israeli culture in her book. It may make for an interesting discussion to continue the comparison of the two cultures with the other reading and film and how their underlying religions impact public policy on reproductive technology.
Great blog! From a previous report I had listened to, the surrogacy industry in India sometimes has private living areas for the surrogate mother because of the backlash they receive. I think it would add on to your blog to consider they ways the industry moves around those types of challenges, including the ethical ones.
I loved this week’s content and your exploration of it. I think the overlap found between the Hindu and Jewish faiths is astounding. I spent a good deal of time in India last summer, and I wished I’d been knowledgable enough about these topics then to have discussed with women I met there. Local and mostly rural women seemed to have little mobility or autonomy over their choices (from my limited experience there), which left me wondering right off the bat how they manage to participate in surrogacy and balance the tensions between strict societal overview and the seemingly fruitful incentives of surrogacy.
I thoroughly enjoyed this post; you were able to write a clear roadmap to the content of this module. As with many of the issues confronted in this class, the surrogacy question has always interested me. The main question I was left with while watching the “Made in India” film was how pregnancy and motherhood is viewed in different cultures. In my mind, pregnancy is a very personal, spiritual experience. I think to have the physicality of that experience placed on a foreign body, or to be a body to house a child that is not yours, brings many questions to my mind about the mind-body connection during pregnancy.
I appreciate how you dealt with cultural features and societal structures of societies using the term societal expectation. I agree with you that the social norm eventually approaches individuals as a kind of expectation. I think it is controversial that these societal expectations discourage individuals to make choices when the definition of definition is decision made without restriction, and people should focus more on the aspect of choices during the process of establishing regulations regarding assistive reproductive technology.
I appreciated your post and overview of the texts and movie. I wonder if anyone else shares my cynical view of the dictate to “multiply” that is common to many religions? This mandate to procreate seems very self-serving and can be viewed as a strategy to expand the influence of any particular religion.
This week’s concentration on the lengths at which people will go to have children with the use of assisted reproductive technologies was very interesting. I enjoyed your use of quotes and the comparing of Hindu and Jewish cultures in this debate.
I too found it very helpful and comforting that the author of Magical Progeny, Modern Technology had a medical background. I thought that this was very interesting in the way that the perspective of reproductive technology was approached both scientifically and culturally.
Additionally, I couldn’t help but notice the parallelisms between Judaism and Hinduism in how they both deal with the topic of kinship. What led the two to coincidently have the same take on surrogacy, and what leads to such an economical gap between the cultures of a nation? These are important questions to address from an anthropological perspective, and I am very excited to see that these were touched on within your blog post. It is fascinating how different we all are, yet how similar our perspectives on things such as reproduction can be.
Your summaries of the texts were very insightful. The parallel you made to Judaism and Hinduism was also very interesting. Both do place importance on procreation, so establishing the ethics of reproductive technologies is important for both religions. The conversation is especially important to have and establish because in today’s society many individuals turn to these doctrines as a way of understanding what is right and wrong.