The Social Construction of Reproduction
(2025) In Hypatia p.1-19- Abstract
- In recent decades, ethicists have engaged with new developments in human reproductive technologies from a variety of angles. Yet there has been relatively little effort to problematize the concept of reproduction itself. In this paper, we examine the question of what reproduction is and its relationship with biology. We show that reproduction is commonly assumed to entail biological parenthood—an assumption that we term “the biological reproduction paradigm.” Drawing on Sally Haslanger’s analysis of the biological/social division between sex and gender, we suggest that the concept of reproduction is socially constructed, despite its apparently biological nature. In turn, we argue that the supposed necessity of the relationship between... (More)
- In recent decades, ethicists have engaged with new developments in human reproductive technologies from a variety of angles. Yet there has been relatively little effort to problematize the concept of reproduction itself. In this paper, we examine the question of what reproduction is and its relationship with biology. We show that reproduction is commonly assumed to entail biological parenthood—an assumption that we term “the biological reproduction paradigm.” Drawing on Sally Haslanger’s analysis of the biological/social division between sex and gender, we suggest that the concept of reproduction is socially constructed, despite its apparently biological nature. In turn, we argue that the supposed necessity of the relationship between reproduction and biological parenthood leads to a situation in which access to a variety of medical, legal, and social goods is constrained on the basis of spurious, inconsistent, and undertheorized assumptions. Finally, we note that, given the socially constructed nature of reproduction, we cannot take it for granted that the term “reproduction” signifies the same thing among different interlocutors and in different contexts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/8d0d8fa4-4a1a-432f-ba7a-230244eac43e
- author
- Smajdor, Anna and Cutas, Daniela LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-03-21
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- reproduction, reproductive ethics, biological parenthood, genetic ties
- in
- Hypatia
- pages
- 1 - 19
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105001190118
- ISSN
- 1527-2001
- DOI
- 10.1017/hyp.2025.9
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 8d0d8fa4-4a1a-432f-ba7a-230244eac43e
- date added to LUP
- 2025-03-21 11:25:57
- date last changed
- 2025-05-06 04:02:26
@article{8d0d8fa4-4a1a-432f-ba7a-230244eac43e,
abstract = {{In recent decades, ethicists have engaged with new developments in human reproductive technologies from a variety of angles. Yet there has been relatively little effort to problematize the concept of reproduction itself. In this paper, we examine the question of what reproduction is and its relationship with biology. We show that reproduction is commonly assumed to entail biological parenthood—an assumption that we term “the biological reproduction paradigm.” Drawing on Sally Haslanger’s analysis of the biological/social division between sex and gender, we suggest that the concept of reproduction is socially constructed, despite its apparently biological nature. In turn, we argue that the supposed necessity of the relationship between reproduction and biological parenthood leads to a situation in which access to a variety of medical, legal, and social goods is constrained on the basis of spurious, inconsistent, and undertheorized assumptions. Finally, we note that, given the socially constructed nature of reproduction, we cannot take it for granted that the term “reproduction” signifies the same thing among different interlocutors and in different contexts.}},
author = {{Smajdor, Anna and Cutas, Daniela}},
issn = {{1527-2001}},
keywords = {{reproduction; reproductive ethics; biological parenthood; genetic ties}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
pages = {{1--19}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Hypatia}},
title = {{The Social Construction of Reproduction}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/211974784/the-social-construction-of-reproduction.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1017/hyp.2025.9}},
year = {{2025}},
}