Fertile Connections: Thinking across Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Parenting Culture Studies

While studies of parenting culture' and assisted reproductive technologies' are now well-established areas of social science scholarship, so far, the potential connections between the two fields have not been significantly explored. Responding to calls for a more processual' approach to studying reproduction in order to make clearer contributions to sociological theory more broadly, we begin a dialogue between these mutually relevant bodies of literature, highlighting connections and crosscutting findings. We focus on four interlinked themes - Reflexivity, Gender, Expertise and Stratification - and promote a more holistic approach to understanding how children are conceived and cared for within the current Euro-American' reproductive landscape. By way of conclusion, we draw attention to the contemporary context of anxious reproduction' and propose directions for future research.