Following the routinization of assisted reproduction in the industrialized world technologies such as in vitro fertilization preimplantation genetic diagnosis and DNA-based paternity testing have traveled globally and are now being offered to couples in numerous non-Western countries. This volume explores the application and impact of these advanced reproductive and genetic technologies in societies across the globe. By highlighting both the cross-cultural similarities and diverse meanings that technologies may assume as they enter multiple contexts the book aims to foster understanding of both the technologies and the settings. Enhanced by cross-cultural perspectives the book addresses the challenges that globalization presents to local understandings of science technology and medicine.