Reluctantly Solo? Representations of Single Mothers via Donor Procedure, Insemination and IVF in Swedish Newspapers

Abstract

This chapter explores representations of single mothers via ARTs (assisted reproductive technologies) in Swedish newspapers. These women are gender-politically interesting to study because they stand as examples of ‘families we choose’ that subvert the hegemony of the nuclear family ideal, and they activate pertinent questions concerning reproductive choices and practices. The mothers in the news articles are typically white, heterosexual and urban, and they, their parenthood and ‘choice’, are framed in particular ways to project maternal and feminine respectability as well as ‘intensive mothering’. This suggests that, although in an international comparison there is generally little stigma attached to single motherhood in Sweden, these mothers need to become ‘understandable’ as good mothers in specific ways to deflect (risk of) stigma.