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On Having an Own Child: Reproductive Technologies and the Cultural Construction of Childhood

Author(s) : Karin Lesnik-Oberstein

Reviews and Endorsements

'On Having an Own Child is a very welcome contribution to the field of feminist studies of reproduction. Bringing together the previously distinct fields of childhood studies and studies in reproduction, its detailed and careful engagements with existing literatures constitute a substantial in academic debate in this area. It also provides an excellent model of using psychoanalysis to analyse both academic and social fields: although this is a profoundly theoretical book, it avoids the use of technical language, providing very close readings of a broad range of texts to elaborate its argument. Speaking to a topic of such profound interest to many women and to many kinds of feminism, it is sure to stimulate much interest.'
- Celia Roberts, Feminist Review no. 93 (2009)

'In her erudite analysis of everything that is commonsensical - and not - about 'having an own child', Karin Lesnik- Oberstein has completed a long-overdue task with the scope and rigour it deserves. On Having an Own Child is a contribution to the cultural analysis of reproduction and the feminist debate about reproductive technology that consistently foregrounds the fundamental questions of language, kinship, culture and identity at their core. In a confrontational analysis that ranges from psychoanalysis to biopolitics, Lesnik-Oberstein makes a major contribution to contemporary cultural theory in a path-breaking work that deserves to be read by the widest possible audience.'
- Sarah Franklin, Professor of Social Studies of Biomedicine, London School of Economics.