Deciphering Reproductive Mobilities in Indonesia: Trajectories of Infertility, Adoption and Migration

This paper engages the concept of reproductive mobilities to explore the nexus between the migration of female domestic workers and the adoption of their birth children by infertile couples who remain within Indonesian borders. The paper derives from a five year, multi-site ethnographic study of compromised fertility in Indonesia conducted between 2010 and 2014. My discussion incorporates the motivations and experiences of both birth mothers and adoptive mothers. I illuminate how the migratory experiences of birth mothers render their children available for adoption, with reference to case studies of women who have worked as foreign domestic workers (FDW), as well as women who have migrated internally within Indonesia seeking employment as domestic workers (IDW).