Uncertain Futures at Life's Beginning

The Social Construction of a Child under the Conditions of a Prenatally Diagnosed Malformation

Abstract

The article explores a new area of action situated in between family and medicine at the beginning of human life from a sociological perspective. Empirical data is used to demonstrate how the knowledge of an unborn child’s malformation creates diff erent forms of uncertainty for medical professionals and parents, coining their social construction of the child. Lastly, these two specifi c ways of dealing with uncertainty are systematically characterised.