אי-החלטה בנוגע לאימהּות: סוציולוגיה של התלבטות

This article explores women in a state of indecision about motherhood,based on a study focusing on a group specifically designated for women who are deliberating about motherhood. It illustrates how they navigate between conflicting cultural principles advocating for decision-making: linear time and individualism, versus pro-natalism and familial values. Data was collected through pre-meeting questionnaires, transcripts of the ten group meetings, and reports on participants’ deliberative state four years later. The findings reveal diverse self-definitions regarding women’s decisions on motherhood, surpassing those found in literature. Additionally, they indicate that while deliberation on motherhood draws on neo-liberal rhetoric, it simultaneously rejects it. It opposes the pronatalistrhetoric of the “natural transition” to motherhood, the temporal linear discourseon the biological clock; and the post-feminist ideal of the “woman who chooses”. While some women sought liberation from indecision, others perceived it as an expansion of autonomy within a constraining society.