The Phenomenology of Gravidity

'a clear, well-written, comprehensible account of the phenomenology of pregnancy, breaking new ground and leading into innovative practical directions especially regarding adoption and surrogacy' -- Dr. Denise Russell, Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy, University of Wollongong
'Lymer’s strikingly perceptive book dismantles images of the pregnant mother as a passive container providing hospitality to a foetus, and reveals gravidity—the actual experience of bearing a child—as a complex, bodily, affective, interactive becoming of mother and child together. An highly original contribution to feminist, phenomenological discussions of pregnancy (Diprose, Guenther, LaChance Adams), with important implications for medicine, law and policy'. -- David Morris, Chair & Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University
'After conception, a woman is in the state of gravidity; this exciting and significant book explores that embodied and affective experience. Lymer theorises a multiplicity of gestational experiences, and explains how their denial is critical in women’s oppression. It challenges tropes of hospitality and maternity, develops the woman-foetal relation as a prototype of being, and investigates the ethics of gravidity.' -- Marguerite La Caze, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Queensland.
"Lymer brings the work of Derrida, Merleau-Ponty and Levinas to bear on the question of the relationship between the gestational human body and the foetus. In doing so, she provides novel insights into the ethics of gestation and pregnancy, and throws significant light on the position of the maternal body in law, philosophy and medicine." -- Catherine Mills, Associate Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies, Monash University