This project, titled "Conceiving Ontology: Donor Conception and the Reality of Genetics", aims to explore some of the ways people conceptualize genetic relatedness. With a focus on persons that are in various capacities involved with the Californian realm of Third Party Reproductive Technologies – e.g., donor conceived persons, parents of donor conceived persons, donors, health care professionals, legislators, and genetic experts – the project asks the following question: “What role does genetic heredity play in relatedness and identity today?”. Furthermore, the project seeks to analyze the ontological implications of its interlocutors’ claims, particularly the objectivity of genetic truths and the insights of molecular bioscience that underpin both lay and expert ideas about genetic relatedness. These ideas have a strong political dimension that manifests in conflicting perspectives regarding donor conceived people’s “right to know” and access information about their genetic parentage. 

Programme participation

• Nilsen, Fartein Hauan; Mogseth, Martin Eggen (2022). 12. Liv og død i møte med teknologi. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Mogseth, M. and Nilsen, F. H. (2024) Limits of Life: Reflections on Life, Death, and the Body in the Age of Technoscience. (Editors). Berghahn Books: Oxford. 

Mogseth, M. (2024) “Virtual DNA: Traversing Limits through Reconception” in Limits of Life: Reflections on Life, Death, and the Body in the Age of Technoscience. (Eds. Martin Eggen Mogseth and Fartein Hauan Nilsen). Berghahn Books: Oxford. 

Mogseth, M. (2023). Reflections of absence: Genetic displacement and reconception among donor-conceived persons in California. In Narrative Inquiry of Displacement:
Stories of Challenge, Change and Resilience (Eds. Lynn Butler-Kisber, Kelly Clark/Keefe, Maggi Savin-Baden). Routledge: London

Mogseth, M. (2021). Temporality and Genetic Knowledge: Donor Conceived Persons’ Pasts, Presents, and Futures. In Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1891-1781-2021-02-03-08

Mogseth, M. (2021). Ontological Stratification: A Comparison of Californian Genetic Heredity and Kalulian Sprits. In Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-2898-2021-01-03