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This seminar will share the findings from my doctoral research on the practice of self-insemination amongst lesbian communities during the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, a heteronormative bias that deemed lesbians unfit to mother pervaded British society, pushing would-be lesbian mothers to collect donor semen themselves. The lack of a clinical framework regulating these practices meant lesbians were free, but also required, to construct and manage the literal and figurative distance between their families and the donor. Bridging the gap between lesbian history and masculinity studies, my work concentrates on the relationships between donors and would-be lesbian mothers this newfound proximity fostered. In this seminar, I will discuss the ways in which both donors and lesbians choreographed self-insemination, demonstrating how everything from its locus to the various movements of both parties were carefully designed to maintain the desired level of involvement in each other’s lives. In doing so, I seek to highlight the resilience and creativity lesbian mothers showed in their fight for their right to parent.

Dr. Samuel Vermote is an interdisciplinary scholar of reproduction. He holds a doctoral degree in Gender & Sexuality Studies from UCL, where he was a Wolfson scholar; a MA in Gender Studies from UCL; and a MA and BA in History from KU Leuven. His PhD thesis interrogated the history of donor insemination and lesbian motherhood in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on the reciprocal influence donors and lesbians had on each other. He has further conducted research into ultrasound technology, reciprocal IVF, and fertility clinics and is currently looking to expand his work on LGBTQ+ parenthood and masculinity.


All welcome- this seminar is free to attend, but advance registration is required.