Bringing Kinship into Being: Connectedness, Donor Conception and Lesbian Parenthood. (April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nordqvist, Petra
• Is Part Of: Sociology. Volume 48:Number 2(2014:Apr.)
• Page Start: 268
• Page End: 283
• Publication Date: 2014-04
• Subjects: donor conception -- kinship -- lesbian -- parenthood; Sociology -- Periodicals; Sociology -- Periodicals; Sociologie -- Périodiques; Sociologie; Electronic journals; 301.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0038038513477936
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-0385

Abstract

The meaning of kinship received little sustained attention for some time in British sociology. However, we are now beginning to see a shift, and Jennifer Mason's (2008) conceptualisation of kinship affinities makes an important contribution to emerging debates. In this article I seek to add to such debates and also provide original data from the field of donor conception and lesbian motherhood, a particularly rich field in which to explore the meaning of kin. I investigate stories about becoming parents, and demonstrate that the issue of bringing kinship into being is a key concern in that process. I develop the argument that kinship is a multilayered and malleable resource with an exceptional capacity to encompass difference. This leads me to suggest that we need to be sensitive to the multitude, shifting ways in which connectedness is experienced in personal life.