Abstract
Despite the centrality of the role embryologists in in-vitro fertilization, there is relatively little literature on the nature of their work. In this article, we draw on results from a large ethnographic study on the emerging IVF industry in South Africa and reproductive travel in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where IVF clinics and embryologists are scarce. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 12 embryologists, who work(ed) in SSA, we illustrate how their care practices are produced through the interaction of people and things. We emphasize the importance of context in shaping their practices, including: the shortage of embryologists; the need to set up ‘first’ clinics in their respective countries; the paucity of trained counsellors in clinics; and the mobility of IVF staff. The embryologists we interviewed performed multiple tasks on top of their laboratory work, including entrepreneurial tasks; advocacy; training; the development of regulations; mentoring and patient counselling. They enacted care in several ways, towards gametes and embryos, patients, clinics, and the profession. These multiple tasks and care practices make for dynamic and fulfilling careers of the interviewed embryologists, but also stretch their capacities. They also raise questions about their contribution to the scarcity of embryological work in SSA. If access to IVF is to be achieved in the SSA region, more embryologists need to be trained and retained.
