Dr Petra Nordqvist
Post-doctoral Research Associate
Email:petra.nordqvist@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 161 275 0324
I joined the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life in September 2009 as a Post Doctoral Research Associate. From October 2010 I am working together with Professor Carol Smart on the ESRC-funded project 'Relative Strangers: Negotiating Genetic Kinship in the Context of Assisted Reproduction.' Before I joined the Morgan Centre, I did a PhD at the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York (supervisor Professor Hilary Graham, external examiner Dr Celia Roberts, Lancaster University) 2006-2009, which was also funded by the ESRC. Whilst at York, I also taught at the Department of Sociology, and worked with journal administration on the journal Feminist Theory. Prior to my PhD, I did an MA in Women's Studies (Social Research), University of York, and an MA in Sociology, Lund University, Sweden. My background, from my first degree (Lund University) is in Gender Studies and Sociology.
Research interests
My research interests lie primarily in the sociological and anthropological study of personal life and relationships, assisted reproduction and reproductive and medical technologies, feminist studies, same sex intimacies and also feminity and sexuality.
In my doctoral study I explored lesbian couples' experience of donor conception in England and Wales. I undertook a qualitative interview study comprising 25 lesbian couples with experiences of both clinical and non-clinical donor conception in England and Wales. The study focused both on lesbians' material and practical processes of trying to conceive using donor sperm, but also it explored notions of intimacy, connectedness and constructions of family shaping the way in which the couples' negotiated and managed the process of conception. I was interested in, for example, the ways in which the lesbian couples managed the very private and intimate process of retrieving donor sperm or doing an insemination, or how couples negotiated recruiting and choosing a donor. Emerging from the data was an irresolvable tension between lesbian couples being in receipt of donor sperm and a romantic desire to be and become a nuclear family. I analysed, in detail, the various ways and practices through which the couple sought to manage this tension as they were trying to conceive.
I am now taking my interests in personal life, relationships, kinship and assisted reproduction further in my current research in the 'Relative Strangers' project (PI Carol Smart, CI Petra Nordqvist) here at the Morgan Centre. This project explores how both heterosexual and lesbian couples negotiate sharing information around donor conception with extended family and kin. The study comprises different qualitative methodologies. We will carry out interviews with heterosexual and lesbian couples, as well as grandparents of donor conceived children. In addition, we have commissioned a Directive of the Mass Observation Directive, based at the University of Sussex.
Media coverage of PhD research (all links open article in new window)
- Davis, H (2010) 'Sisters are doing it for themselves' feature on same-sex parenting, Fertility Road, 14 August.
- Sanders, J (2010) 'Lesbians still face vulnerability from online donors, study finds', Pink Paper, 19 August.
- (2010) 'Sperm costs for lesbians: Capital is the key for conceiving for lesbian couples, study finds,' Manchester Confidential, 20 August.
- (2010) 'Costs are a barrier to lesbian couples conceiving, study finds', Pink News, 19 August.
- (2010) 'University of Manchester - High costs of lesbian conception', Times Higher Education, 2 September.
- (2010) 'The other banking crisis: how the donor sperm shortage is sending lesbians abroad' DIVA, November (This article is not available online)
Listen to Petra talking about her research on lesbian couples' experiences using donor conception (6.5 mins)
Recent publications
Nordqvist, P. (in press) 'Dealing with sperm: Compaing Lesbians' Clinical and Non-Clinical Donor Conception Processes'. Sociology of Health and Illness, 2011 33(1): 31 pp
Nordqvist, P. (in press) "Out of sight, out of mind'. Family resemblances in lesbian donor conception', Sociology, 22pp.
Nordqvist, P. (in press) "I Don't Want Us to Stand Out More than We Already Do': Lesbian Couples Negotiating Family Connections in Donor Conception, Sexualities, 19pp.
Nordqvist, P. (under review) 'Pressing the plunger. Lesbian couple donor conception and Euro-American family discourse', Current Sociology, 24pp.
Nordqvist, P and Smart, C (under review) 'Silence, secrets and struggles: Ongoing problems of 'coming out' as lesbian or gay,' The Sociological Review, 23pp.
Nordqvist, P. (2008) ‘Feminist heterosexual imaginaries of reproduction: Lesbian conception in feminist studies of reproductive technologies’, Feminist Theory 9(3):273-292
Nordqvist, P. (2006) ‘Att tala om familj: Lesbiskas berättelser om planerat föräldraskap’ (’Family matters: Lesbian’s narratives of planning parenthood’, author’s translation), lambda nordica (Swedish Journal of Research into Homosexuality), 11(4):63-81
Nordqivst, P. (2006) ‘Önskat och onskat föräldraskap: Kön och sexualitet i svensk lagstiftningshistoria om insemination’ (’Parenthood (not) wanted: Gender and sexuality in Swedish legal history of donor insemination’, author’s translation), lambda nordica, 11(1-2):30-46
Nordqvist, P. and Westerlund, U. (2005) ‘(O)personlig assistent sökes’ (‘Looking for an (im)personal attendant’, author’s translation). Based on dissertation on public and private boundaries in personal attendant’s experience of care work. Bang (Swedish feminist semi-academic journal) 4:69-73
Nordqvist, P. (2003) ‘Med åtskillnad som medel. Polisers och åklagares berättelser om mutor’ (’Making difference: Police and prosecutors’ making sense of bribes as criminal offence’, author’s translation), Research Report Network for Research in Criminology and Deviant Behaviour at Lund University 2003:2