The Politics of Reproductive Signification: Navigating Legal Definitions of Parenthood in the Context of UK Informal Donor Conception

ABSTRACT Informal donor conception (IDC) has an ambiguous status under UK law. Whilst not illegal, it is discouraged by regulators and only partially recognised in attributions of legal parenthood. In this paper, we analyse IDC as a lens to explore the politics of reproductive signification. We use this term to refer to the power dynamics at play in deciding the meaning of reproductive processes in people's everyday lives. Drawing on interviews with 19 donors and 30 (intended) parents via IDC, we explore how they manage the relational significance of conception, gestation and care in the context of a legal regime which is often at odds with their intentions. Building on theories of legal consciousness and stratified reproduction, we demonstrate how the politics of reproductive signification encompass not only cis/heteronormative legislation but also the ways in which inequalities, relating to economic resources, racialised and classed parenting ideals and relationship status, shape possibilities to work with the law and resist its relational authority via practices of de‐animation or embrace legal ambiguity. Our analysis has implications for understanding how people negotiate the meaning of reproduction, particularly in the context of legal marginalisation.