Spanish Legal Reproscape: The Making of a Bio-Industry
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University of the Basque Country
Spain
Abstract
Europe accounts for the largest number of assisted reproduction treatments (ARTs) in the world, with 56 percent of the global reproductive market quota, followed by Asia (23 percent) and North America (15 percent). However, Europe’s legal landscape of reproductive bio-commodities is a patchwork of permissive and restrictive countries, one of the main reasons for the transnational movement to access ARTs. Spain is the main destination for European middle- and upper-class couples seeking egg donation. The use of legislation has been a significant feature in making Spain a leading country in the global reproscape. This paper aims to understand the specific role of several undetermined legal concepts used by the Spanish regulation, such as “compensation” or “best interest of the child” in making global reproductive bio-commodities.
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Author Biography
Itziar Alkorta Idiakez is Civil Law Professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Dr Alkorta’s research field covers protection of medical data, regulation of reproductive technologies, tissue donation, and personalized medicine. She is a member of the Consolidated Research Group on Personhood, Patrimony and Family, with a vast experience on interdisciplinary research projects funded by European and Spanish agencies. She has been Invited Professor at the Hastings Center of Bioethics, New York (2001, 2002), Bioethics Center of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (2006), CERFAP, Université de Bordeaux (2016). She served as Secretary General of the Society for Basque Studies from 2004 to 2009. Vice Rector of Quality and Educational Innovation of the University of the Basque Country (2009–2012), where she was in charge of the European Higher Education Integration Area in the field of educational innovation. Vice Minister of University and Research of the Basque Government (2012–2015). She is Director of the Summer Courses of the University of the Basque Country. She is a correspondent member of the Basque Academy for Sciences, Arts & Humanities.
