1. « Monsieur graine, donneur, mais pas papa » : Le travail narratif des mères seules par don
- Author
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Margot Lenouvel
- Subjects
medically assisted procreation ,single mother ,donation ,procreative work ,narrative ,script ,Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology ,GN301-674 ,The family. Marriage. Woman ,HQ1-2044 - Abstract
Research Framework: The concept of personal origins is constantly evolving as the ways in which families are formed diversify. In France, parents who have recourse to sperm donation are now encouraged to pass on to their child the circumstances of their birth. These narratives are particularly important for single mothers: they are supposed to give the donor a part in the family history, without compensating for the absence of a second parent.Objectives: This article aims to analyze how narratives about origins – in this case about donors – are constructed by single mothers.Methodology: As part of a doctoral thesis, eighteen biographical interviews were carried out with single women who had become mothers through sperm donation, both abroad and in France. These interviews were complemented by the analysis of an online group, which was a productive field of investigation for observing family intimacies.Results: Revealing one’s history gives rise to a variety of practices and narrative strategies, based on a moral norm of dual responsibility for single mothers. Investigating these narratives reveals the place assigned to the donor. He embodies a symbolic figure in family history, that is unrelated to kinship or filiation. His place is constructed in a feminine group that includes other single mothers, and is then negotiated with the close family. Furthermore, these narratives are materialized through the creation of various supports (books, images, films, etc.), testifying to single mothers’ desire to assert their family model.Conclusion: The creation of the origin story is part of the narrative work of single mothers, aimed at their children and their relatives, and contributes to family memory.Contribution: This article contributes to a better understanding of the experience of single mothers, and more generally of the place given to a donor in the history of families born of donation.
- Published
- 2024