I use qualitative and mixed method research designs to analyze how people imagine, experience, and interpret reproductive transitions. Because reproduction is a joint social, cultural, and biological process, transitions in the reproductive life course demarcate transitions in social status and identity. I conceptualize the reproductive life course as a socially constructed trajectory shaped by gendered constructions of health and wellbeing, family, and household labor.
Fruits of Our Labor
In my dissertation, I investigate how adults transform fertility desires into intentions, behaviors, and outcomes. Broadly, I consider the multidimensional work aspiring parents complete to actualize their fertility ideals. I address my research questions using semi-structured, in-depth interviews supplemented by short surveys, and participant observations at community events for expectant parents. My sample includes adults who are transitioning to parenthood and fertility care providers. See more about my dissertation here.
Postpartum Depression, Medicalization & Ideal Motherhood
I use posts and comments scraped from parenting, pregnancy, and childbirth-focused communities on social networking website Reddit to qualitatively analyze the intersection of motherhood, mental health, and medicalization. I argue that medicalization is a key mechanism through which idealized motherhood practices are embedded in women’s reproductive lives. The first paper from this project was published in Social Science & Medicine in March 2026. I presented earlier versions of this project at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association (August 2024) and the Population Association of America (April 2025).
Social Networks & Constructions of Family
As a collaborator on the Family Matters Research Study (FMS) based at the Carolina Population Center, I examine how people self-define their families without the constraints of biological or household family definitions. FMS data includes network surveys with more than 400 pregnant women in North Carolina and open-ended interviews with a subset of participants. I presented an early version of this paper at the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)’s Sunbelt Conference in Paris, France (June 2025).
Identifying Sources of Sexual & Reproductive Health Information
In a collaboration with researchers based at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine, I explored adolescents’ experiences with identifying sources of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information based on 23 in-depth interviews with Black adolescent girls living in North Carolina. This project has generated publications in the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology and the Journal of Adolescent Health. I presented early findings from this project at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (August 2023).
Kaitlin H. Joshua 