The Post-career Mom: Reproductive Technology and the Promise of Reproductive Choice

Abstract

The 1950s “Golden Age” of marriage and the family, with a standard model of family life, was followed by the revolutionary arrival of the pill, provoking the separation of sexuality from reproduction. With the rise of the women’s movement (1970s and 1980s), the pill gained further momentum. The promise seemed to be that women had the full freedom of choice. But what impact did the pill really have? Did it fulfil its promise and bring reproductive freedom for women? Gender roles became less rigidly defined, the educational level of women rose, and motherhood was postponed. Expectations began to rise and women started to wait for the “right moment” to have children. But that magic moment did not come for everyone, while for others a pregnancy failed to come. Women who before had taken much efforts to avoid getting pregnant now despaired at not getting pregnant. They went for assisted reproductive technologies, including prenatal and genetic diagnostics. It means fluctuating between hope and fear, and maybe being confronted with questions like what to do if the test shows a deficiency. In short, the pill contributed to reduce the chances of conception. Two future scenarios are developed, and their pros and cons discussed. Firstly, on the political option, connected to why women feel the wish, need or pressure to postpone. Countries react with various political policies to help families (women in particular) to better cope with labour market and family commitments. Secondly, on the technological option, connected to how to find better ways of postponing. Will egg freezing for example by-pass the biological clock and bring a separation of the labour market career first, followed later on by the family career? Whatever the future, there definitely are physical, emotional, social and economic limits to postponement behaviour. So, priority must be given to the political option.