| Title |
Infertility, desire for motherhood and surrogacy in Miguel de Unamuno’s Dos madres / |
| Authors |
Sebastià Sáez, María |
| DOI |
10.1007/978-3-031-66697-1_8 |
| ISBN |
9783031666964 |
| eISBN |
9783031666971 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Negotiating non-motherhood. representations, perceptions, and experiences / editors: Jenny Björklund, Dovilė Kuzminskaitė, Julie Rodgers.. Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. Chapter 8, p. 139-156.. ISBN 9783031666964. eISBN 9783031666971 |
| Keywords [eng] |
Non-Motherhood ; Infertility ; Surrogacy ; Miguel de Unamuno ; Dos madres ; Queer Family Model |
| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of this chapter is to explore infertility and the journey out of non-motherhood via surrogacy in a century-old text, namely Miguel de Unamuno’s novella-play Dos madres (Two Mothers, 1920). The plot of Dos madres employs the same core leitmotiv as the biblical passage it is inspired by, the story of Rachel and Jacob (Gn. 30: 1–6). There are three main characters: Raquel, don Juan and Berta. Raquel is a widow who could neither have a child with her husband nor with her younger lover, don Juan. Raquel is desperate to become a mother and makes a plan to achieve her goal. She encourages don Juan to marry a young woman, Berta—who is supposed to be fertile—and have a child with her but then give the child to Raquel, who will raise the baby as her own. This chapter examines, through a literary lens, the theme of non-motherhood, maternal desire and the potential for a solution via surrogacy. In addition to this, the chapter interrogates the possibility of imagining new and alternative family formations, thanks to surrogacy. |
| Published |
Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2025 |
| Type |
Book part |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2025 |
| CC license |
|
