116 S. Goedeke and K. Daniels
has to be made by those two persons. Further, ED is associated with the
creation of life rather than the continuance of an existing life. Finally,
because ED leads to new life, it assumes a cultural and social signifi-
cance which has led many jurisdictions to set up regulatory frameworks
to manage the practice. Management does not therefore rest with the
donors and involved professionals, and the major considerations in ED
are psychosocial rather than medical or scientific. While the above dif-
ferences are significant, it is important to acknowledge that it was devel-
opments in science and medicine—particularly IVF, which has allowed
the creation of embryos that may be frozen for subsequent use—which
has led to the advent of ED. The practice of ED could be said to be an
unintended consequence of such developments.
As a practice, ED was first reported in Australia in 1983 (Trounsen
et al. 1983 ) and initially seemed an attractive option for both potential
donors and recipients. For donors, ED offers a potential solution to the
‘problem’ of surplus embryos, an opportunity to use (and thus ‘value’)
the embryos, and the possibility of helping others with fertility difficul-
ties (de Lacey 2005 , 2007a, b; Johnson 2003 ; Kirkman 2003 ; Lyerly
et al. 2010 ; Svendsen 2007 ). For recipients, ED offers an opportunity to
have a child in addition to experiencing pregnancy, childbirth and the
parenting of a young child, and without the need to go through what is
regularly documented in the literature as expensive and physically intru-
sive fertility treatment (Blyth et al. 2011 ; Check et al. 2004 ; Hill and
Freeman 2011 ; Keenan et al. 2012 ).
In this chapter, we explore the practice of ED in New Zealand and
the regulatory framework within which ED occurs. To do so, we draw
on the results of a study by the first author, in which 22 donors and 15
recipients were interviewed as to their experiences of ED in the New
Zealand context. Our discussion will focus on the psychosocial dimen-
sions of ED, examining how the embryo is viewed, the factors that
impact on the donors’ decision-making, and their views concerning the
welfare of the child. We posit three notions that emerge from donors’
and recipients’ views regarding ED: seeing it as a form of adoption, as
gift-giving and exchange, and as building an extended family. Each of
these notions positions ED as a relational practice between donor and
recipient families and will be discussed using data from the study.