Reimagining Queer Kinship: The Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies By Lesbian Parents

My research centers the discussion about imaginations of kinship on Lesbian parents, particularly people who used assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to conceive. In the context of Taiwan’s legal regulations, lesbian couples cannot legally access in-vitro fertilization (IVF), despite Taiwan’s high IVF success rate and affordability. The process of traveling transnationally in order to obtain reproductive treatments not available or accessible in one’s own country has been called “reproductive migration.” Intended parents from Taiwan have traveled to the United States, Denmark, Cambodia, and Japan to receive IVF treatment. In this research, I use in-depth interviews to explore how the process of realizing one’s desire for motherhood intersects with an imagination for queer futurity. I argue that through the process of reproductive migration, lesbian parents often reimagined kinship in a transformative way. The deliberate decision-making that spans across various stages of the reproductive journey testifies to a constant negotiation between conformity to the established social norms and contesting those existing norms in a way that seeks to actively reshape, rather than passively accept the given definition of kinship. From the selection of the race of sperm donors to discussing who would be the genetic or gestational mother, and choosing care providers, the process is saturated with social meanings and imaginations. An understanding of the multiple stakeholders and institutions that one ought to contest in the decision-making process helps us gain a contextual view of what reimagining the future of queer motherhood and kinship would entail.