ABSTRACT

Social science and sociological research on procreation is, in general, based on pre-empirical assumptions of intentionality, normativity, rationality or the expectation that a decision is made for or against having a child, which restricts the perspective on falling pregnant or having children as objects of research. In consequence, procreation is regarded as detached both from the sexuality practiced between the partners as well their relationship. This contribution does not share these pre-empirical assumptions. Instead, falling pregnant is understood as an emergent phenomena which puts the focus on the empirical question of how women, men, and couples deal with the potential for procreation in sexual activity and how pregnancies ‘arise’. Based on a narrative interview, a praxiologically oriented analysis is presented which focuses on actors as well as their bodies and the artefacts involved in the ‘emergence’ of this pregnancy. Thereby, the spatial relation will be taken into account. This approach reveals that sexual action praxis, including the way the procreative potential of the acts is dealt with, is based on a complex interplay of multiple factors. It will be shown that taking the spatial relation into account is essential if we are to consider falling pregnant as an emergent phenomenon.