Single Mother by Choice: A Story of Politics and Parenting in Twenty-First Century Middle America

Single motherhood, a new family form, demonstrates an accomplishment of paradoxical synergies between 2nd wave feminism and neoliberalism. Single Mother by Choice chronicles the journey of Ann, a 41-year-old woman throughout her intensive mothering of three donor-conceived children from infancy to tween years. The Christian Right's embrace of neoliberalism provided a permission structure for this and other emerging families, while simultaneously influencing progressive parents with trickle down neoliberal values that weaken the moral architecture of childhood and the nation. This fine-grained analysis of one family's life illuminates the complexities of twenty-first century, middle-class American motherhood, whether single or not.

Author: Linda L. Layne
Binding Type: Library Binding
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 05/15/2026
Series: Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural P #57
Pages: 268
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.69d
ISBN: 9781836954972