Given the approaching deadline to submit paper proposals for the XVII International Anthropology Congress of ASAEE (January 8, 2025), which will be held at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife) from September 2 to 5 of the same year, Professors María Isabel Jociles from the Complutense University of Madrid and Diana Marre from the Autonomous University of Barcelona invite the submission of proposals and participation in Symposium S15, which they coordinate. Titled Postponing Parenthood: Assisted Reproductive Technologies with “Third” Parties and the Resulting Family and Relational Reconfigurations, this symposium covers a wide range of topics related to delayed parenthood and the use of ART-D (Assisted Reproductive Technologies with Donors).
To submit proposals, access the following platform:
https://www.eventosasaee.com/assev/fonline/cong/acceso_cong.php?idcgrs=982094&idioma=es
The full list of symposia can be found here:
https://asaee-antropologia.org/congresos/xvii-congreso-antropologia-2025/simposios/
Summary:
Since the mid-20th century, and more intensely in the 21st, there has been a global decline in fertility rates and an increase in the age at first parenthood. With variations in pace and intensity, by 2024 all continents except Africa (4.1 children per gestational parent) and Oceania (2.1) are below the population replacement rate of 2.1 children per gestational parent: Latin America (1.8), North America (1.6), Asia (1.9), and Europe (1.5). This trend is evident in specific countries, such as Spain, where the fertility rate dropped from 2.8 children per gestational parent in 1972 to 1.16 in 2022.
This has been accompanied by a significant increase in the age of first-time mothers, rising from 25.6 years in 1980 to 32.6 in 2024, making it one of the highest in Europe. Moreover, parenthood beyond the age of 40 has grown, despite being labeled as high-risk by biomedical standards. This has led to notable phenomena such as births to gestational parents over 40 exceeding those to those aged 27 in Spain.
The postponement of parenthood is also linked to an increased use of ART-D, enabling new family forms and transformations in kinship and parental relations. These changes include searching for biological origins, the emergence of online donor sibling networks, and shifts in the social discourse on assisted reproduction and surrogacy.
The symposium invites proposals addressing topics such as:
- Reasons for delaying parenthood and how gender, class, and cultural traditions play a role.
- The impact of contraceptive access and ART-D on family planning decisions.
- How delayed parenthood affects parent-child relationships and generational dynamics.
- Discourses and practices of social actors regarding ART-D and delayed parenthood.
References:
- Álvarez, Bruna; Marre, Diana (2021). Motherhood in Spain: From the Baby Boom to Structural Infertility, Medical Anthropology 41(6-7).
- Inhorn, Marcia C. (2023). Motherhood on Ice. The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs. New York University Press.
- Jociles, María Isabel (ed) (2016). Revelaciones, filiaciones y biotecnologías.
Klotz, M. (2016). Wayward Relations: Novel Searches of the Donor-Conceived for Genetic Kinship. Medical Anthropology 35(1). - Matthews T. J.; Hamilton. E. (2014). First births to older women continue to rise. National Center for Health Statistics.
- Rivas, Ana; Álvarez, Consuelo (eds.) (2020). Etnografía de los mercados reproductivos: actores, instituciones y legislaciones. Tirant lo Blanc.
- Rodrigues, Inés et al. (2023). Impact of advanced maternal age on neonatal morbidity: a systematic review. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 36:2.
- Tavernise, S. et al. (2021) Why American women everywhere are delaying motherhood. The New York Times.