Donor Panel Discussion
The Donor Project Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 7pm
At a time of intense international political debate around surrogacy, The Donor Project refocuses attention on the deeply personal experiences of lives and livelihoods bound up in medical fertility.
As egg donation and surrogacy have gained tremendous popularity as viable reproductive options over the last decade, the donor side of the equation has become more visible. The differences between agency, scale of compensation, and cultural and societal biases for or against invitro fertilization between countries and even among states in the US are staggering. Classism and racial divides between donors and recipients call to mind the debate over safety and choice, the commodification of reproduction, the preciousness and protective attitudes surrounding the female reproductive organs and the freedom afforded to women by financializing their bodies.
Shoestring Press invites you to a panel discussion with artists, donors, and scholars as part of The Donor Project, to discuss what it means to consider egg donation and surrogacy as paid labor, to explore the tricky distinctions of intent and motivation, and to inquire into the donor’s point of view, from the complicated lens of a very personal experience.
The panel was preceded by a brief introduction of The Donor Project by Jenny Carolin, exhibiting artist, and Melanie Kress, Associate Curator of High Line Art, moderated.
Panelists included:
Daisy Deomampo, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Fordham University, alumna of The New School, and author of Transnational Reproduction: Race, Kinship, and Commercial Surrogacy in India (2016).
Jenny Carolin, Artist, CoFounder of the Mudhouse Residency in Crete and the Athena Standards Residency in Athens, GR, Faculty at the New York School of the Arts and Montgomery College, alumna of Syracuse University, creator of The Donor Project
Sonja O'Hare, Starring Actor, Writer and Producer of the indie dark comedy, Ovum, about an aspiring actress donating eggs to a designer clinic. Former multiple egg donor who funded her film with the compensation from donations.
Clara Kundin, Actor, The Ume Group at Galli Theater, alumna of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre, Jewish Francophile and Comédienne, and current egg donor.