The Phenomenology of Gravidity: Reframing Pregnancy and the Maternal Through Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Derrida

The Phenomenology of Gravidityexplores the particularity ofwomen's engagements withgestation,linking the denial of certain embodied experiences of pregnancyto genderoppression. Employingthe term 'gravidity' to namethe metaphysical condition of having conceived,Lymer developsa theory of maternity that emphasises theinteractive natureofgestation,highlightingthe necessity for women to choose to become maternal as an important factorin optimalfoetal development. Critically drawing on bonding and attachmenttheory, Lymerrethinks debates aroundabortion, adoption and surrogacy which ignore theethical and practicalimplications of an understanding of gestation that is necessarily interactive and embodied, challenging the view of the pregnant woman as apassive container.Through an engagement with the work of Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Derrida, The Phenomenology of Gravidity offers an ethicalfeminist framework for a hospitality of gravidity which welcomes the place of the pregnant mother in all her guises, while highlighting the medical, legal and ethical consequences of failing in this welcome.