Impossible motherhood: From the desire for motherhood to non-motherhood

This article proposes to explore the biographic accounts and everyday experiences of cisgender women who, for various reasons biopsychosocial conditions, are not mothers. From a feminist focus using qualitative methodology, it looks at complex nature experience who felt desire be mothers started out on quest motherhood. As result thematic analysis their accounts, we find that some have undergone miscarriages repetition miscarriages, facing infertility problems (structural, relational social) medicalisation bodies assisted reproduction technology (ART). It has been seen how biomedicine reproductive biotechnology boost search biological (and medical) solutions social related structural infertility. Furthermore, importance given experiencing ‘grief non-motherhood’, is emphasised, composed different processes socially denied or disenfranchised —such as gestational grief, genetic grief institutional grief— performing small rituals say goodbye. demonstrated that, following process acceptance non-motherhood self-knowledge, in question redefine identity new projects. Finally, relevance mutual support groups (MSG) way sharing frames reference, forging empathy relationships reciprocity networks. The conclusions highlight journey from ‘impossible motherhood’ subjective process, involving reflection physical emotional life lesson, makes possible challenge, rethink overthrow hegemonic representations motherhood generating meanings practices bound non-motherhood.