Disjunctures: An Ethnography of Pandemic Reproduction

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked intense stories about human reproduction. Memes predicting “lockdown baby booms” circulated among restricted access to reproductive healthcare, and conspiracy theories of vaccine-related infertility. Through 20 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Sundsvall, Sweden, and in Facebook-hosted mammagrupper (“mommy groups”), this research explores the tension and disconnects between the stories told and the experiences lived of pandemic reproduction. This research draws on the theoretical framework of reproductive mobilities. It contributes significantly to understandings of pandemic and reproductive governance, as well as intersectional experiences of the pandemic.

This project is Kelsey Marr’s doctoral research, housed at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. It is supervised by Dr. Susan Frohlick (Community, Culture, and Global Studies) and supported by the Forum for Gender Studies at Mid Sweden University (Sundsvall, Sweden).