M/other

Popular culture and mass media have glamorised and normalised
the “mother” in heteronormative households.
But what about rape survivors and terminally ill mothers?
Where is the public discourse on and recognition of teen, single,
incarcerated, foster, surrogate, migrant and step mothers? Do
they receive the support that “regular” mothers do or are they
seen as being less of a mother?
Is a mother defined only as the bearer of the child or the carer of
the child? Is it the tummy mummy who matters or the daddy who
also plays the role of mummy who goes to all costs to have baby?
The fact is, this diversity is the reality we have to grapple with.
Academic and writer Loretta Chen explores the concept of
“mother” in this collection of 20 interviews with parents who
have faced challenges or have themselves challenged the norms.
Among the parents featured are:
• Hillary, a thrice-divorced mother bringing up two children
• Emily, who became a mother as a result of an act of sexual
violence that led to conception
• Maximillian and his partner, who engaged a surrogate
mother in the US to conceive their twins
Their stories and the others in this book bear testimony to the
power of love that does indeed conquer all.