Sprouting sideways: queer temporalities and kinship in donor conception

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Science
• Sociology of Family
• Queer Theory

Background:

• Temporal constructs, like the "biological clock," are fundamental to reproduction and kinship.
• Queer scholarship has critiqued linear models of kinship and reproductive temporality.
• Donor-conceived families represent a growing family structure with unique temporal dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how donor conception reconfigures temporal logics.
• To investigate how donor conception challenges heteronormative temporalities and kinship organizations.
• To analyze the embodied and intimate experiences of stakeholders in donor conception.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative case studies in Denmark, Sweden, and Australia.
• Analysis of narratives from clinical staff, parents, and donor-conceived adults.
• Examination of temporal perspectives across different stakeholder groups.

Main Results:

• Clinic staff perceive donors in a static present.
• Recipient parents integrate the donor's past into their present.
• Donor-conceived adults view the donor within fragile futurities.
• Donor conception involves non-normative scale (e.g., extensive sibling networks) and velocity (e.g., immediate DNA matching).

Conclusions:

• Donor conception introduces distinct temporal perspectives among stakeholders.
• The concept of "sideways temporalities" captures the queering of temporal logics in donor conception.
• Donor conception challenges and reconfigures normative understandings of time and kinship.