Fertile Expectations: The Politics of Involuntary Childlessness in Twentieth-Century France

by Margaret Cook Andersen

An engaging history of motherhood, demography, and infertility in twentieth-century France, this book explores fraught political and cultural meanings attached to the notion of an "ideal" family size. When statistics revealed a sustained drop in France's birthrate, pronatalist activists pushed for financial benefits, propaganda, and punitive measures to counter declining fertility. Situating infertility within this history, the author details innovations...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1526177366
• ISBN13: 9781526177360
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Length: 328 Pages