Culture, conceptive technology, and nursing.

Technology is a form of cultural expression, formed of and forming culture. A paradox about technological innovation is that, in addition to creating new human arrangements and possibilities, it often serves only to reinforce existing sociocultural practices, norms, and values. The technologically radical is often the culturally conservative. Conceptive technology has contributed toward the redefinition of patienthood, the multiplication of models of infertility, and the reinforcement of existing cultural norms. Nurses are well-positioned to conduct a kind of technology assessment that places culture and ethics at the center of inquiry. They are also well-positioned to assist women and their partners seeking technological assistance to reproduce to understand the controversies concerning conceptive technology that may account for their own ambivalence toward continuing or terminating medical treatment, societal ambivalence toward supporting expensive fertility treatments, and cultural ambivalence toward technological development.