| 英文摘要 |
This article explores the medical practices and experiences of Taiwanese lesbians who engage in transnational assisted reproductive technologies (ART). It focuses on how, under the influences of strong reproductive desires and transnational ART networks, these women develop a strategy of“two-stage reproduction”while bearing exceptional health risks. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of“choreography of risk”and“logistic action,”this study proposes the concept of“transnational relay”to emphasize how the volatility and precarity inherent in transnational ART networks constitute a core risk for lesbian reproductive pursuits. In navigating these fragmented networks, lesbian women must constantly manage contingent and unstable disconnections among various medical, legal, economic, and social actors.“Relay”—that is, how to successfully pass one actor’s unfinished task on to the next—becomes a distinct mode of medical engagement for lesbian users within these transnational reproductive networks. Through the lens of“relay,”the article further illustrates the dialectical relationship between vulnerability and resistance in lesbian transnational ART practices. On one hand, the networked connections among heterogeneous actors enable reproductive success and offer possibilities for lesbian women to resist heteronormative reproductive norms. On the other hand, lesbian reproductive bodies are exposed to unpredictable reproductive risks within these fragmented transnational ART networks, resulting in their reproductive health precarity. By analyzing the practice of“transnational relay”by Taiwanese lesbian women seeking conception, this article highlights both the potential medical risks they face in collaborating with transnational ART networks and the agentive strategies they devise. In doing so, it reveals the complex and dialectical entanglements among heteronormative structures, biomedical technology, and women’s reproductive autonomy. |