Broken bodies: oral histories of infertility after the women’s liberation movement

Using oral histories with women born between 1946 and 1980, this article explores experiences memories of infertility pregnancy loss in the post-women’s liberation era. Infertility had a lasting impact on participants’ relationships their bodies, expressed often terms ambivalence towards physical selves an embodied ‘broken-ness’. I historically contextualise these expressions broken-ness to show ongoing resilience socially-constructed narratives that link womanhood reproductive ability. The attitudes suggests continued need for critically interrogating cultural norms about gender Australian society.