132 S. Goedeke and K. Daniels
between the two families. The construct allowed an acknowledgement
of the connections between the two families, but did not involve any
particular rights or obligations. Many donors and recipients regarded
each other as connected ‘forever’. For some, this occurred even when
the ED had not resulted in a child. These donors and recipients
remained in touch and in some instances continued to offer each other
support in their family-building efforts.
Glover ( 2008 ) points to the similarity between ED and the Māori
practice of whāngai, an informal ‘adoption’ practice in which birth par-
ents may place children with whānau for reasons including the recipi-
ents’ infertility, or because the birth parents are unable to raise the child.
Whāngai children know about their birth parents and are able to have
contact with them. This enables them to recount their whakapapa and
to answer ‘ko wai koe?’ (Who are you?) (Glover 2008 : 56). Placements
are arranged to secure and strengthen whānau and kin links (McRae
and Nikora 2006 ). Glover ( 2008 ) suggests that New Zealand’s model
of ‘open’ ED could be seen as ‘early whāngai’, in that a genetic child is
raised by another family, but in the context of openness and acknowl-
edgement of kinship ties—although in whāngai the placement is with
extended family members.
Conclusion
In sum, ED offers a potential solution for couples needing to make deci-
sions about the disposal of embryos that remain following their IVF and
the ‘completion’ of their families. For the recipients of ED, ED offers
a way of building a family in circumstances where this would other-
wise not have been possible. However, ED is a unique form of biologi-
cal donation, as it results in the creation of new life: the genetic child
of the donors. This fact, and the value that is accorded genetic ties and
knowledge in the New Zealand context, positions ED as a relational
practice between donor and recipient families. Children cannot be
‘donated’ or transferred to others as ‘property’, and embryos which are
expressly created with the intent to parent and as the full genetic embod-
iment of a couple may be seen as inalienable from their progenitors.