Politics of Reproduction

All societies rest on the continuity of their populations. How – and if – that continuity is assured is deeply implicated in gender relations. Who has children? Rather, who can, who should, who must, have children – and who cannot or may not do so-- and at what conditions? Most fundamentally, who decides, how, with what consequences, for whom? Who, for example, is most at risk of dying of child-bearing, and where? Who can access ARTs and at what conditions? Have we moved past, or are we returning to, what was once thought of as compulsory motherhood, or is motherhood becoming more elusive, and for whom? Are similar trends affecting fathers? Or parents generally? And how do policies intended to encourage or discourage the physical reproduction differentiate among social groups, distinguishing, for example, on the basis of citizenship and residency, marital status, disability,race, ethnicity and class? Finally, what are the implications of assisted reproductive technologies – from IVF to womb transplants and gene editing – both for procreation and for how we understand sex and gender?