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Conceiving Wholeness: Women, Motherhood, and Ovarian Transplantation, 1902 and 2004
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 54, Number 3, Summer 2011
- pp. 409-416
- 10.1353/pbm.2011.0036
- Article
- Additional Information
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Scholars have shown that organ transplantation may transform ideas about one’s body, with recipients feeling that they are receiving not just a body part but also a part of the donor’s identity. This article focuses on a different way in which organ transplantation shapes recipient identity: the idea of becoming whole. We present the case studies of two women separated by a century (one in 1902 and the other in 2004) who sought ovarian transplantation, and examine how ovarian transplantation can engender a sense of wholeness on the individual, the familial, and the cultural levels, due to its ability to enable a recipient to naturally conceive and experience pregnancy.