Ambiguous ambitions: on pathways, projects, and pregnancy interruptions in Cameroon

Ambiguous ambitions illuminates the ways in which women in eastern Cameroon deal with, and make decisions around, pregnancy loss. Different forms of fertility interruptions such as infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths, perinatal and neonatal deaths, but also induced abortions and fertility regulation are pervaded by ambiguity in Cameroon. The cause, underlying intentions, and consequences of such incidents are often unclear. This thesis describes how women give meaning and direction to these contested happenings; it shows that women’s reproductive decisions are related to their network of social relationships, their individual ambitions, and the workings of their material bodies. This complexity of reproductive decision-making is often ignored in scientific debates on fertility in Africa and sheds new light on common notions of reproductive intentionality, choice and control that inform much of the contemporary reproductive health discourse.