Telling Reproductive Stories: Social Scripts, Relationality and Donor Conception

Petra Nordqvist

doi:10.1177/0038038520981860

Abstract

Storytelling is a fundamental part of human interaction; it is also deeply social and political in nature. In this article, I explore reproductive storytelling as a phenomenon of sociological consequence. I do so in the context of donor conception, which used to be managed through secrecy but where children are now perceived ‘to have the right’ to know about their genetic origins. I draw on original qualitative data with families of donor conceived children, and bringing my data into conversation with social script theory and the concept of relationality, I investigate the disjuncture between the value now placed on openness and storytelling, and the absence of an existing social script by which to do so. I show the nuanced ways in which this absence plays out on relational playing-fields, within multidimensional, intergenerational relationships. I suggest that in order to understand sociologically the significance and process of reproductive storytelling, it is vital to keep both the role of social scripts, and embedded relationality, firmly in view.

Highlights

I want to be able to give [my children] a story [about their family] – an answer that isn’t either untrue and isn’t about sperm and test tubes. (Jessica, parent; lesbian relationship, two children by donation)When I’m thinking I’m going to tell someone [about the sperm donor], my heart starts racing a bit and it’s a bit hard. (Jennifer, parent; heterosexual relationship, two children by donation)I prefer not to mention [that my grandchild is donor conceived] to people. (Leonard, grandparent) Sociology 55(4)It is commonly assumed that a family consists of a mother and a father, and their biological children
While there is a growing body of research into families formed through donor conception (e.g. Golombok, 2015; Nordqvist and Smart, 2014a) and lesbian motherhood (e.g. Almack, 2007; Nordqvist, 2014b) there has been little sociological exploration and analysis of the issues emerging around reproductive storytelling, especially in a social and cultural context marked by secrecy and a recent shift to openness
By using a relational social script lens to view stories about donor conception and lesbian motherhood, I show that telling reproductive stories is a matter of social and cultural consequence, and worthy of sociological investigation

Summary

Introduction

I want to be able to give [my children] a story [about their family] – an answer that isn’t either untrue and isn’t about sperm and test tubes. (Jessica, parent; lesbian relationship, two children by donation)When I’m thinking I’m going to tell someone [about the sperm donor], my heart starts racing a bit and it’s a bit hard. (Jennifer, parent; heterosexual relationship, two children by donation)I prefer not to mention [that my grandchild is donor conceived] to people. (Leonard, grandparent) Sociology 55(4)It is commonly assumed that a family consists of a mother and a father, and their biological children. This is followed by an account of methods, before I move on to exploring reproductive storytelling in the context of donor conception as an (un)scripted process, and how that plays out for different storytellers (parents, children, grandparents and wider kin, in that order) and within different relationships.

Results

Conclusion