Recent Talks
“Reprowebs: a new concept for better understanding current developments in the global fertility industry” with Anika König (Freie Universität Berlin). Reproductive Futures: Emergent Injustices, Hopes and Paradoxes Conference. Tampere University. Tampere, Finland. June 2022 (upcoming)
“Resources in the Clinic: Clinicians’ articulations of patient-clients’ reproductive constraints.” Eastern Sociological Society, Mini-Conference on Reproduction. Boston, March 2022
“Im/mobility in the Transnational Surrogacy Market: Disruptions and Vulnerabilities in and Beyond Pandemic Times” with Anika König (Freie Universität Berlin) and Anindita Majumdar (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad). Infrastructures and (Im)mobile Lives: Interruptions, Failures, and Repairs Workshop. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. February 2022
“Obscured Labor: The (In)Visibility of Surrogate Work” Surrogacy and Markets in Life: Critical Observations in Sociology and Philosophy. LUMSA University, Rome, Italy. November 2020
“The Organization of Embryo Creation, Freezing, and Testing in Fertility Clinics in the U.S.” Eastern Sociological Society. Philadelphia, March 2020
“The Complexities of Transnational Reproduction: The Case of German-U.S. Surrogacy Arrangements” with Anika König (University of Lucerne). Wiesbaden, Germany. September 2019
“Obscured Labor: The Visibility of Surrogate Labor in Varying Contexts.” AFIN Conference: Towards Reproductive (In)Justice?: Mobilities, Technologies, Labourings & Decisions. AFIN Research Group. Granada, Spain, September 2019
“Cross-Border Reproductive Care to the United States: who comes, why do they come, and what do they purchase?” The FrancoAmerican Reprotech Workshop. Paris, France. June, 2019
“The Sociology of Making Babies: Gestational Surrogacy in the U.S.” Tap Talks. New Main Brewing Company, Arlington, TX May, 2019
“Gestational Surrogacy in the U.S.” Guest speaker, joint graduate/undergraduate Medical Humanities class for Steven Gellman, UT Arlington. April, 2019
“Do Embryos have Kinship? Negotiating Meanings of Relatedness in the Fertility Clinic.” Eastern Sociological Society, Mini-Conference on Reproduction. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2019
“The Work of Making Babies: Gestational Surrogacy in the United States.” Guest Speaker, Southern Methodist University, Health and Society Program. March, 2019
“Negotiating the Kinship of Excess Embryos: Reactions of Fertility Professionals” at The Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture Conference. Oakland, California. October, 2018
“A Limited Market: The Infertility Industry’s Recruitment of Gay Men as Surrogacy Clients.” American Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. August, 2018
“Mapping the Dilemmas of "Excess" Embryos in the Infertility Industry.” Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Mini-Conference on Reproduction. New Orleans, Louisiana. April, 2018.
Heather participated in an invited two-day workshop, Interpreting Reproductive Technologies in French and U.S. National Context, at New York University, where she presented some of her surrogacy work. April 2018.
“Gay Men as Surrogacy Clients: Equal Access?” Eastern Sociological Society, Mini- Conference on Reproduction. Baltimore, Maryland. March, 2018.
Heather participated in a cross-national three-day conference at The University of Amsterdam at which she gave a talk on methodological issues related to researching surrogacy. December, 2017.
Heather discussed Labor of Love at the Men Having Babies conference in Dallas, Texas. June, 2017.
"Intensive Mothering During Pregnancy: The Case of Surrogacy." Southern Sociological Society's Annual Meeting. Greenville, Southern Carolina. March 31, 2017.
Heather discussed Labor of Love at the Men Having Babies conference in San Francisco, CA. January, 2017.
Heather discussed Labor of Love at the Premiere International Colloquium on Surrogacy in Paris, France. November, 2016.
Heather shared research from Labor of Love at a UT Arlington Women's and Gender Studies Brown Bag presentation. November, 2016.
Heather spoke about Labor of Love at the Men Having Babies Dallas Surrogacy Conference. June, 2016.
“Surrogates at the Crossroads: Intensive Pregnancy (for Others) in the Age of Intensive Mothering.” Eastern Sociological Society, Mini-Conference on Reproduction. Boston, Massachusetts. March, 2016.
Media
Heather was interviewed by Yuri Hibino, Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Graduate school of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, about surrogacy in the U.S. in October of 2021. Read the interview here.
Heather appeared in an episode of Embodied on North Carolina National Public Radio Program about surrogacy on July 9, 2021.
Heather was interviewed by Ginanne Brownell for her article, "Surrogacy, America and Me” that appeared in the Financial Times Magazine on March 12, 2021.
Heather was interviewed by Angela Knight for an article about surrogacy that appeared in the Sacramento Magazine in the October 2019 edition.
Heather was interviewed by Laurence Brunet for an article that appeared in Le Monde on June 1, 2018.
Heather was interviewed by Gillian Wheatley for an interview on surrogacy in Canada that appeared on CBC. CA on April 24, 2018.
Heather's work on surrogacy was cited in an article by Glenn Hunter that appeared on DMagazine.com on on January 1, 2018.
Heather was interviewed by David Tarrant for an article about surrogacy that appeared in the Dallas Morning News. December 19, 2017.
An article about Labor of Love appeared in Inquiry Magazine in the Fall 2017 issue.
Heather was interviewed on NBC 5 for a Valentine's Day story on surrogacy
on February 14th, 2017.
Labor of Love in the Chronicle of Higher Education Weekly Book List.
Appearance on National Public Radio KERA THINK program with Krys Boyd to discuss Labor of Love. April 4, 2016.
UT Arlington Press release for Labor of Love.
Appearance on National Public Radio KERA THINK program with Krys Boyd to discuss Culture Keeping. May 20, 2010.
Culture Keeping was featured in "Cultural Preservation" by Teresa Newton in Inquiry Magazine in 2010.
Culture Keeping was featured in “Another Country, Not My Own” by Mei-Ling Hopgood in The Boston Globe (August 23, 2009).
Culture Keeping was featured in “What's My Heritage? International adoptions and the culture debate” by Martha Nichols in Brain, Child Magazine (Summer, 2009).
November 7, 2008. UT Arlington Press Release for Culture Keeping.