Newcastle University

Introduction

I have a masters’ degree in Science, Society and Technology at University of Oslo, Norway. During my MA work, drawing on debates held in the UK parliament I analysed some of the ethical issues raised by embryo experimentation and stem cell research.

I completed my Ph.D. at the Institute for Science and Society (ISS) and the School of Law, at University of Nottingham. My doctoral work examined reactions of a sub-group of would-be parents to the UK government's decision to remove anonymity from gamete donors. I conducted semi-structured interviews with a sub-group of would-be parents and undertook a virtual ethnography study.

Between January 2010-2012, I worked as a Post Doc Research Associate in 'Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Uses of Reproductive Tissue in Stem Cell Science (IDARTSS)' project.

The project aims to facilitate interdisciplinary and international debate on the ethical, legal and social aspects of the use of reproductive tissue in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
Please see: www.ncl.ac.uk/peals/research/project/3094

I am currently holding a Mildred Blaxter Post Doctoral Fellowship. 

Qualifications

Ph.D, The Institute for Science and Society (ISS) and School of Law, University of Nottingham.
‘The Removal of Donor Anonymity in the United Kingdom: The Silencing of Claims by Would-be Parents’ (Awarded 07.2009)
Supervised by Prof Robert Dingwall and Prof Therese Murphy

MA, European Studies of Society, Science and Technology , The Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (TIK), University of Oslo, Norway.
‘Embryo in the Parliament: The British Parliament Debate on the Embryo Technology’. (Awarded 12.2003)
Supervised by Prof Torben Nielsen

Bachelor of Business Administration, Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University, Turkey.

Previous Positions

Part-time teacher at University of Nottingham.

Post Doc Research Associate at PEALS, Newcastle University. 

Research Interests

• Ethical and socio-legal issues around human reproduction technologies and stem cell research
• Bioethics
• The impact of human reproduction technologies on conceptions of family, kinship and parenthood
• Medical sociology
• Reproductive rights, avoidance of law and cross border reproductive care (CBRC) movements 
• Science and technology studies
• Virtual ethnography

Mildred Blaxter Post Doctoral Fellow

In 2011, I have been awarded a Mildred Blaxter Post Doctoral Fellowship, founded by Sociology of Health and Illness Foundation. The Mildred Blaxter Fellowship covers the period between January-December 2012. During this period I will explore four main areas, ‘expert patient’ and patient support networks; cross border reproductive care movements; infertility and stigma; and disclosure in donor conception.  
I will disseminate from my doctorate thesis titled ‘The removal of donor anonymity in the UK: the silencing of claims by would-be parents’, which represents an important source of data on voices that were not fully heard in the public debates over ending donor anonymity. The analysis of the donor-conception parents’ accounts presented in this PhD thesis provides insights to their reactions to the disclosure policy. The thesis also contributes to the debates about the phenomenon of ‘reproductive tourism’, as some potential parents consider this to be a way to avoid having to deal with disclosure policies and practices.

[1] (2009) PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. 

Projects

• IDARTSS (Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Uses of Reproductive Tissue in Stem Cell Science).
  Project Leader(s): Professor Erica Haimes and Dr Simon Woods

Undergraduate Teaching

School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham.

September 2007 - June 2009, Sociology in Contemporary Society
Themes: Migration; Sociology and the Risk Society; Globalisation; Genetics and Society.

September 2005 - June 2009, Social Problems and Policy Responses.
Themes: Family and the welfare provision; Poverty; Disability; Mental illness.

September 2005 - January 2006, Quantitative Analysis.

Postgraduate Teaching

Schools of Education, Nursing and Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham.

January 2006 - June 2006, Qualitative Research: Issues and Methods.

• Turkmendag I. Banchoff, T. Embryo Politics: Ethics and Policy in Atlantic Democracies. USA: Cornell University Press, 2011, £22.95 (hbk) viii+294pp, ISBN: 9780801449574. Sociology of Health and Illness 2012, 34(4), 646-647.
• Haimes E, Taylor K, Turkmendag I. Eggs, ethics and exploitation? Investigating women's experiences of an 'egg sharing' scheme. Sociology of Health and Illness 2012, 34(8). In Press.
• Turkmendag I. Review of ‘New Organs Within Us: Transplants and the Moral Economy (Experimental Futures)’. Sanal, A., Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 2012, 7(1), 81-82.
• Turkmendag I. The Donor-conceived Child's `Right to Personal Identity': The Public Debate on Donor Anonymity in the United Kingdom. Journal of Law and Society 2012, 39(1), 58-75.
• Turkmendag I. When sperm cannot travel: Experiences of UK would-be parents seeking treatment abroad. In: M. L. Flear, A.M. Farrell, T.K. Hervey, T. Murphy, ed. European Law and New Health Technologies. Oxford University Press, 2012. Submitted.
• Woods S, Scully JL, McCormack P, Turkmendag I. Response to report by Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Give and take? Human bodies in medicine and research: consultation summary. London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2010. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/7m3bl7d.
• Ozdemir I. Book Review: John R. Spencer and Antje Du Bois-Pedain (eds), Freedom and Responsibility in Reproductive Choice. Social & Legal Studies 2008. , 17(3), 409-410.
• Turkmendag I, Dingwall R, Murphy T. The Removal of Donor Anonymity in the United Kingdom: The Silencing of Claims by Would-be Parents. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 2008, 22(3), 283-310.