Transgressive technologies? Strategies of discursive containment in the representation and regulation of assisted reproductive technologies in Aotearoa/New Zealand

SynopsisDrawing on a case study of the contemporary representation and regulation of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in Aotearoa/New Zealand, this article traces the cultural anxieties evident in public, political, and media discussion and debate around the provision and use of ART, with a specific focus on the use of donor insemination and IVF by single women and lesbian couples. It documents the operation of various narrative mechanisms, normative assumptions, and discursive strategies that work to identify the legitimate uses and users of such technologies whilst simultaneously affirming conventional understandings of “gender”, “motherhood”, and “the family”, and concludes that contemporary anxieties and ethical dilemmas provoked by women's transgressive uses of ART have been addressed through legislative changes that target certain groups of women for official surveillance and control while also effectively limiting their reproductive options.