I feel like some kind of namoona

Nandagiri, R. (2022), "‘I Feel Like Some Kind of Namoona’: Examining Sterilisation in Women's Abortion Trajectories in India", Boydell, V. and Dow, K. (Ed.) Technologies of Reproduction Across the Lifecourse (Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 29-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-733-620221005

Dr Katie Dow & Dr Vicky Boydell invited me to contribute a chapter to this edited collection on reproductive technologies - I absolutely jumped at the chance!

I wrote this chapter over the course of two weeks and it remains one of my favourite pieces of writing from my PhD data. This is a whole new piece of writing that does not feature in the thesis Even now, I remember the interview with Tasheen clearly and her expression as she described herself as a ‘namoona’. It’s seared in my memory.

I have been thinking about linked ‘reproductive events’ and their cumulative impact on reproductive and overall health trajectories. Linking sterilisation and abortion - two very common reproductive experiences- demonstrates just how these (old school?) technologies endure, how they come to be embodied experiences, and can shape future trajectories as much as they are enacted in the present. In my mealy-mouthed way, I’ve been referring to it as a ‘reproductive and a bodily life course’ – I’m sure a more articulate scholar has a nicer phrase for this! This chapter is the first of many planned ‘trajectories’ papers.

I finished a draft of the paper in Dec 2019 for a workshop with the other chapter authors, submitted in Jan 2020, and then edited it based on reviewers’ feedback in December 2021. I presented this work at an online seminar at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2021. The wonderful Dr Ben Kasstan (who also has a chapter in this book) read and commented on this chapter, holding space for my reflections and ramblings. The book was published in September 2022.