Prelims

Half Title Page

Lived Realities of Solo Motherhood, Donor Conception and Medically Assisted Reproduction

Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society

Series Editors: Petra Nordqvist, Manchester University, UK and Nicky Hudson, De Montfort University, UK

This book series brings together scholars from across the social sciences and humanities who are working in the broad field of human reproduction. Reproduction is a growing field of interest in the UK and internationally, and this series publishes work from across the lifecycle of reproduction addressing issues such as conception, contraception, abortion, pregnancy, birth, infertility, pre and postnatal care, pre-natal screen and testing, IVF, prenatal genetic diagnosis, mitochondrial donation, surrogacy, adoption, reproductive donation, family-making and more. Books in this series will focus on the social, cultural, material, legal, historical and political aspects of human reproduction, encouraging work from early career researchers as well as established scholars. The series includes monographs, edited collections and shortform books (between 20 and 50,000 words). Contributors use the latest conceptual, methodological and theoretical developments to enhance and develop current thinking about human reproduction and its significance for understanding wider social practices and processes.

Title Page

Lived Realities of Solo Motherhood, Donor Conception and Medically Assisted Reproduction

By

Tine Ravn

Aarhus University, Denmark

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

Copyright © 2021 Tine Ravn

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83909-116-2 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83909-115-5 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83909-117-9 (Epub)

Dedication

To all the women who participated in this study

List of Figures and Tables

About the Author

Tine Ravn, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, Department of Political Science at Aarhus University. Her work broadly concerns the relationship between science and society with a particular focus on the social, legislative and ethical aspects of medical biotechnologies, research integrity/research ethics and public engagement with science and technology. She has a particular interest in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), solo motherhood, kinship and identity. Together with good colleagues, she has co-authored the book Social Theory: a Textbook published by Routledge.

Acknowledgements

Overall, this is a book about life trajectories and how one is to navigate them, when no well-defined maps of life are available; when there is only the most basic coordinates and greater landmarks but no master cartography to be found. Some routes are, however, more well travelled than others. Embarking upon solo motherhood through donor conception as a particular route to motherhood is not one such well-travelled path and new strategies for and in life have to be explored. I am exceedingly grateful to the women in this study, for choosing to share their life stories with me and for giving me an insight into the lived realities of solo motherhood through donor conception. Their honest, personal, detailed and vivid narratives have formed the basis of this book and they deserve to be read in full with all the depth, complexity and richness that characterize them. Still, I hope my selection, analysis and representation will do them justice and also demonstrate individual life story integrity and profundity.

I would also like to thank Lone Schmidt, Maria Salomon and Karin Erb for lending their vast knowledge and expertise on this field, and for their readiness to answer my many questions and requests. In August 2015, I spent two days at the Fertility Clinic at Arhus University Hospital. I am very grateful to all the employees at the clinic for letting me be part of their professional daily routines and for taking time out of their busy schedule to acquaint me with the various fertility procedures and practices. I owe special thanks to Hans Jakob Ingerslev for arranging and coordinating my stay at the clinic. I would also like to thank the many fertility clinics across Denmark who helped me disseminate knowledge about this study. These are the public fertility clinics located in Odense, Skejby (Aarhus), Dronninglund, Randers and Greater Copenhagen. The private clinics are The Danish Fertility Clinic Copenhagen (Danfert), Stork Clinic in Copenhagen and Fertility Clinic IVF-SYD in Fredericia. I would also like to thank Signe Fjord and the online forum for single women by choice (SEM) for helping me disseminate information about this study through their online resources.

This book builds on the study on solo motherhood conducted as part of my PhD and the monograph ‘Strategies for Life – Lived Realities of Solo Motherhood, Kinship and Medically Assisted Reproduction’. I am grateful to the Aarhus BSS Graduate School for funding this work based at the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy (CFA) at Aarhus University. It is an absolute pleasure to be part of the Centre and its vibrant, interdisciplinary and convivial atmosphere. I would like to thank all of my current and former colleagues for adding to this positive setting and for all the support, valuable collaborations, inspirational academic presentations, discussions and social events that have shaped my daily work life and formed my professional identity.

A very special thanks goes to my former PhD supervisors Mads P. Sørensen and Trine Lund Thomsen for all of their vast support, mentoring and knowledgeable, insightful and experienced guidance which have been a valuable and essential source of inspiration and encouragement for developing the present work. I would also particularly like to thank Niels Mejlgaard, Carter Bloch, Lise Degn, Sanne Haase, Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Jane Frølund Irming, Heidi Skovgaard Pedersen, Catherine McDonald, Morten Suusgaard, Sigrid Dohn Raunkjær, Christoffer Andresen, Emil Madsen, Jens Viuff Ludvigsen and Malene Christensen for all their support, feedback and cheering, and for various forms of invaluable assistance from moral support over reference and language editing to transcribing interviews during the process of research and writing.

I would also very much like to thank the series editors Petra Nordqvist and Nicky Hudson for their support and their perceptive and constructive feedback. I would also very much like to thank senior publishers Kim Chadwick and Jen McCall for proficiently steering the book through the stages of publishing and the first-rate editorial and production team who assisted this process, including Pavithra Muthu, Dheebika Veerasamy, Abi Masha, Harriet Notman, Nagaruru Balaji Sai and Carys Morley.

As part of the research, I was so fortunate to be able to visit The Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge for a month in 2016. I am very grateful to Centre Director Susan Golombok for the invitation to visit this vibrant, inspiring and academically outstanding environment. I would like to thank all employees for their very welcoming and positive approach and particularly to administrator Abby Scott. I owe a special thanks to Susanna Graham for making the stay possible and for sharing with me her unrivalled insights and expertise within the field. Susanna's wise comments, encouragement and support have been of vital importance for this study. I not only consider her to be a valued collaborator but also an appreciated friend and I hope to be able to expand our collaboration in the future.

At last I would like to thank my closest family and friends for their great and treasured support during this prolonged process. It must seem as if I have been researching and writing this book forever, and I am very grateful for their constant caring and encouragement.

First and foremost, I am exceedingly grateful for my partner Stefan, our children Selma and Theo and their unconditional love and support. I do not know how I would have found my way through this project – and through life in general – if it had not been for them. They are truly the ones who provide meaning and direction in my life and words cannot express how privileged I feel being able to share and explore life with them.