IVF Doctors as Moral Pioneers and Moral Guardians in Pronatalist China

In this article I examine the roles of IVF doctors in two state-owned hospitals amid China's shift to pronatalism. Rather than simply promoting infertility treatment, some doctors act paternalistically as "moral pioneers" and "moral guardians," reappropriating moral authority granted by biomedical expertise to persuade many women of "advanced maternal age" seeking a second child through ART to reconsider or discontinue treatment. Their reasoning arises from navigating contradictory reproductive governance while drawing on personal moral values. While reinforcing state narratives on declining fertility, they also provide medical justifications for forgoing treatment, offering some women an alternative model of femininity.