Good m(others) : re-storying narratives on abortion together : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Abstract

Statistical reports on women who access abortion in Aotearoa are produced within a context that refuses to acknowledge that mothers represent the largest group of women accessing abortions. The same lack of recognition permeates the academic and clinical health care research, where the dominant narrative produces a stereotype of abortion with little focus on the everyday conditions of mothers. The aim of this research was to hear and affirm the stories of mothers who have had abortions, so that in and through their locations as mothers we could emerge knowledge that had transformational potential. I drew on the concept of women’s stories as gifts, which enabled me to develop an ethically responsible methodology through which to hear stories response-ably. The reflexive process of hearing enabled me to listen for and respond ethically and relationally to stories of pain, and through our collaboration we reimagined a figure of the (m)other who has an abortion, understood through the multiplicity and partiality of our everyday lives. The research itself tells a narrative of the re-storying of the singular figure of abortion. Listening in ways that are response-able and affirmative facilitated a shift, where stories of pain moved and there was a reimagining of our subjectivities, and new stories of difference and resistance were produced. Through my analysis, potentials emerge, opening space for us to understand differently, through stories of motherhood, abortion, and affirmation, producing a new figure – multiple and partial and moving, M(other).