Telling Reproductive Stories

Social Scripts, Relationality and Donor Conception

Bibliographic Data

ID2323232
AuthorsP Nordqvist (0000-0001-8340-9976, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume55
Issue4
Pages677-695
Publication date2021-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038038520981860
OpenAlexW3121012743
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited47

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

Context (archaeology) · Conversation · Epistemology · Linguistics · Narrative · Openness to experience · Politics · Scripting language · Secrecy · Sociology · Storytelling · Value (mathematics) · Communication · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access