Abstract

JOCILES RUBIO, María Isabel  and  RIVAS RIVAS, Ana María. Genetic and experiential motivations: the discourse of SMC on artificial insemination as a means of access to single-parenthood. Alteridades [online]. 2010, vol.20, n.39, pp.107-124. ISSN 2448-850X.

This article analyzes the discourse on the motivations that Single Mothers by Choice (SMC) display in order to choose for or against the use of artificial insemination as a path to single parenthood. These discourses, produced in qualitative interviews as well as in other contexts of interaction (Internet Jorums, kedadas or informal get-togethers, female gatherings, etc.), have been subject to observation in the context of an ethnographic research conducted in Madrid, Spain, during 2008-2009. The results show that SMC claim two main types of motivations for choosing or rejecting this method to access motherhood: one refers to the importance granted to the genetic link between the mother and her son or daughter, and the other to the opportunity to experience "physical" motherhood. The study also considers the dichotomies that these women produce between biological and adoptive reproduction, and between the ideas of natural and artificial.

Keywords : single parenthood; single mothers by choice (SMC); international adoption; assisted reproduction; motivations for adopting.