Work

Biogenetic Kinship in Families Formed via Reciprocal IVF: ‘It Was [My Partner]’s Egg . . . But My Blood Flowed through Her’

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Reciprocal IVF is a route to parenthood that, for the first time, allows cis two-mother families (and other couples in which both partners have a uterus and egg stores) to ‘share’ biological parenthood. This family form offers a valuable opportunity for researchers to examine experiences of gestational and genetic motherhood within the same family, and this article is the first to take a sociological approach to exploring kinship within this emerging family form. Drawing upon interview data with 14 two-mother families (28 mothers) who have conceived via reciprocal IVF, we show that mothers hold complex, creative and sometimes contradictory understandings of the ‘multiple motherhoods’ within their family (i.e. genetic, epigenetic and gestational motherhood). Overall, mothers took an active and strategic approach to constructing kinship within their family, and these findings have theoretical, empirical and clinical implications.

Source: Sociology

DOI: 10.1177/00380385231212398

Authors: Susie Bower-Brown, Kate Shaw, Anja McConnachie, Vasanti Jadva, Kamal Ahuja, Susan Golombok

Institutions: University of Cambridge, University College London, London Women's Clinic

Language: English

Topic: Reproductive Health and Technologies

Subfield: Reproductive Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,500

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council