This speculative project originated from my own experiences with the subject of fertility and reproduction feeling inescapable. Throughout my life, the woman around me and I have discussed the impact and complexity of reproduction. I have noticed that there are both universal and individual aspects, with power in shared fears, hopes, experiences, pains, and thoughts but also some division amongst the differences women experience. I found it was important to acknowledge and work with my own personal influences as it helped the entire project feel more natural and authentic and created a safe space for everyone to participate more equally.

In order to gather some more in-depth, qualitative data about people’s experiences, I conducted interviews about the significant events and ideas that had directly affected their lives so far. The focus of these discussions was specifically the emotional impact, which I then visualised through mapping. My goal was to take these complex situations and turn them into a more visually comprehensive format so that they could be more accessible for discussion and insight.

I took my research forward into conducting a workshop with participants in their 20-30s from a range of different countries and cultures. The workshop began with everyone sharing their thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears, and stories around the subject, as I wanted to gather an initial un-biased understanding of what aspects came to them first. From there, I gave them a range of prompts to ruminate on, as this was a topic that they had only just been exposed to. The contributions for this stage were more varied and allowed people space to immerse themselves more in the topic.

Once the participants had taken the time to reflect upon their own experiences, I divided them into three groups to speculate on different fictional fertility scenarios;

1. External Wombs
2. There Is No “Biological Clock”
3. Anyone Can Get Pregnant

As the scope of speculation was so wide, I also provided them with three main questions to consider;

1. How would this change things? (Compared to what we had considered in our reality)
2. What would this look like?
3. What services would you want or need?

By exploring this topic in the fictitious realm, discussion was able to begin around what participants unveiled as their true interests, desires, and concerns. Some key areas that they examined were creating more freedom for women, moving into a world beyond a gender binary, having more control over adapting one’s biology, and a societal culture shift.

From there I was able to create some speculative illustrations that could further promote discourse and potential reveal the most pressing needs of young adults around fertility and reproduction.

I found there was a lot of power in this topic and how the reflection and discussion around it could impact those involved. A lot of the initial response was enjoyment and fun, which allowed more lighthearted, free contribution. Beyond that, many female participants expressed how empowered they felt, and how the process had been fairly therapeutic as it was a rare chance for their pains to be heard. I also found male participants saying that they were considering ideas that they had not previously and were therefore recognising the depth and influence to a new degree. Through co-design and speculation, everyone involved was able to gain more perspective and expand their own relationship with the subject of fertility of reproduction.