Rene Almeling

  • GUYnecology
  • Sex Cells
  • Surveys
  • Teaching
  • Conference
  • Media
  • CV
  • Contact
  • GUYnecology
  • Sex Cells
  • Surveys
  • Teaching
  • Conference
  • Media
  • CV
  • Contact
Picture

​Sex Cells: The Medical Market for Eggs and Sperm
University of California Press (2011)

Unimaginable until the twentieth century, the clinical practice of transferring eggs and sperm from body to body is now the basis of a bustling market. In Sex Cells, Rene Almeling provides an inside look at how egg agencies and sperm banks do business. Although both men and women are usually drawn to donation for financial reasons, Almeling finds that clinics encourage sperm donors to think of the payments as remuneration for an easy "job." Women receive more money but are urged to regard egg donation in feminine terms, as the ultimate "gift" from one woman to another. Sex Cells shows how the gendered framing of paid donation, as either a job or a gift, not only influences the structure of the market, but also profoundly affects the individuals whose genetic material is being purchased.

Visit the publisher's website (here) to read the Introduction, review the table of contents, and recommend your library buy it. ​​
Awards
Diana Forsythe Prize, American Anthropological Association
Best Book Award, American Sociological Association's Body and Embodiment Section
Simmons Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Sociological Association's Medical Sociology Section
Distinguished Book Award (Honorable Mention), American Sociological Association's Sex and Gender Section

From the back cover...

​“What happens when sex cells sell? Do human bodies become degraded objects of commerce? Challenging simplistic accounts of commodification, Almeling offers a compelling analysis of contemporary markets for eggs and sperm. A superb contribution to 21st century economic sociology.” -Viviana A. Zelizer, author of Economic Lives: How Culture Shapes the Economy

“This is a highly informative book. Almeling provides a balanced approach to this highly controversial subject. Although you might be conflicted by the ethical issues, you will definitely be extremely well-informed when you finish this book.” -Alan H. DeCherney, MD, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

“Almeling offers a wonderfully thoughtful analysis and an innovative cultural lens for viewing the gendered lives of sex cells and their commodification in the contemporary USA.” -Rayna Rapp, author of Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Impact of Amniocentesis in America
Podcasts & Interviews

"One Sperm Donor, 17+ kids, and a Lawsuit." Vice

“Putting a Price on a Human Egg.” Wall Street Journal

Interview on NPR’s “
All Things Considered” for a story about women turning to online sperm donation sites

“
Does the wrong sperm mean ‘wrongful birth’?” WNYC's Brian Lehrer radio show

“Baby Boom: What Happens When One Sperm Donor Has Dozens of Offspring?” NPR's Here and Now

“Secrets of the Sperm Bank,” Q&A on Salon.com
Essays

Almeling 2013. “The Unregulated Sperm Industry,” New York Times 

​Almeling 2017. "The Business of Egg and Sperm Donation." Contexts Magazine
​

​Almeling, Radin, and Richardson 2014. “Egg-freezing a better deal for companies than for women,” CNN.com
Related Articles

Almeling 2007. “Selling Genes, Selling Gender: Egg Agencies, Sperm Banks, and the Medical Market in Genetic Material.” American Sociological Review 

Almeling and Willey 2017. "Same Medicine, Different Reasons: Comparing Women's Bodily Experiences of Producing Eggs for Pregnancy or for Profit." Social Science and Medicine

Almeling 2015. “Reproduction.” Annual Review of Sociology

Timmermans and Almeling 2009. “Objectification, Standardization, and Commodification in Healthcare: A Conceptual Readjustment.” Social Science and Medicine

Interviews about Sex Cells with Glenn Cohen for his free HarvardX bioethics course... 
Part 1: Sperm donation market
Part 2: Egg donor selection
Part 3: Cost of eggs and sperm
Part 4: Recruiting sperm donors

Contact

​Mail 
Yale Sociology
PO Box 208265
New Haven, CT  06520
​Phone
203.432.3340
Twitter
@ralmeling
Email
rene.almeling (at) yale (dot) edu