Dr Christina Weis

Christina Weis is a social and cultural anthropologist with a keen interest in reproductive politics.Her most recent research project seeks to explore how birth partners perceive, negotiate and prepare for their role and place during labour and childbirth when devising a birth plan.

Previous projects focused on surrogacy (in Russia and the UK) and egg provision (in the UK and Spain), as well as exploring the decision-making of people experiencing a heart attack or stroke during the national lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She is the author of the monograph "Surrogacy in Russia. An Ethnography of Reproductive Labour, Stratification and Migration." She is in particular interested in ethnographic and feminist research methodology. 

Since 2023, she is one of the convenors of the BSA Human Reproduction Study Group. 

She currently job-shares the role of deputy programme lead for the MSc Global Health.

Centre for Reproduction Research

Sussex Centre for Cultures of Reproduction, Technologies and Health - CORTH

•  Nahman, Michal and Weis, Christina (2023) Redefining Bioavailability through Migrant Egg Donors in Spain. Body and Society 29(1)  https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034X231161319

   Loyal, Sasha, Hudson, Nicky, Culley, Lorraine and Weis, Christina (2023) The experience of counselling for UK egg providers.  Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 23(3):702-708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/capr.12613

   Lafuente, Sara, Weis, Christina, Hudson, Nicky and Provoost, Verle (2022). Egg donation in the age of vitrification: a study of egg providers’ perceptions and experiences in the UK, Belgium and Spain. Sociology of Health & Illness https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13590

   Turner, J., Martin, G., Hudson, N., Shaw, L., Huddlestone, L., Weis, C., Northern, A., Schreder, S., Davies, M. and Eborall, H. (2022) Using Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) to develop an intervention to improve referral and uptake rates for self-management education for patients with type 2 diabetes in UK primary care. BMC Health Serv Res 22, 1206 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08553-7

   Whittaker, Andrea, Trudie Gerrits, and Christina Weis. “Emerging ‘Repronubs’ and ‘Repropreneurs’: Transnational Surrogacy in Ghana, Kazakhstan, and Laos.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology, (June 2022). https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152221097600.

   Weis, Christina (2021). Surrogacy in Russia. An Ethnography of Reproductive Labour, Stratification and Migration. Emerald Publishing

   Marcin Smietana, Sharmila Rudrappa & Christina Weis (2021) Moral frameworks of commercial surrogacy within the US, India and Russia, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 29(1): 1-17; DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2021.1878674

   Weis, Christina and Norton, Wendy (2021) "My emotions on the backseat." Heterosexually-partnered men's experiences of becoming fathers through surrogacy. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 7 (2):35-49:DOI https://doi.org/10.21825/digest.v7i2.17567

   Weis, Christina (2021) Changing Fertility Landscapes: Exploring the Reproductive Routes and Choices of Fertility Patients from China for Assisted Reproduction in Russia. Asian Bioethics Review 13 (1): 7–22 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41649-020-00156-w; Free access: https://rdcu.be/cdoTI

   Fish, J. and Weis, C. (2019), "All the lonely people, where do they all belong? An interpretive synthesis of loneliness and social support in older lesbian, gay and bisexual communities", Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 20 (3): 130-142. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAOA-10-2018-0050

   Weis, Christima (2019) Situational ethics in a feminist ethnography on commercial surrogacy in Russia: Negotiating access and authority when recruiting participants through institutional gatekeepers. Methodological Innovations 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119831853

• Weis, C. (2017), Speier, A. Fertility Holidays. IVF Tourism and the Reproduction of Whiteness. New York: New York University Press: 2016. http://medanthroquarterly.org/article/book-review-fertility-holidays-ivf-tourism-and-the-reproduction-of-whiteness/

   Weis, C. (2016), Rudrappa, S. Discounted Life: The Price of Global Surrogacy. New York: New York University Press: 2015. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12422

    Weis, C. (2015), Workers or mothers? The business of surrogacy in Russia. Open Democracy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/christina-weis/workers-or-mothers-business-of-surrogacy-in-russia.

   

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Monograph: Weis, Christina (2021). Surrogacy in Russia. An Ethnography of Reproductive Labour, Stratification and Migration. Emerald Publishing

Infographic: Becoming a dad through surrogacy. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.16635427.v1 

PhD thesis: Reproductive Migrations: Surrogacy Workers and Stratified Reproduction in St Petersburg. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/15036 

MA dissertation: “Born to Birth”? - Surrogacy Workers in Saint Petersburg.

• Medical Anthropology
• Gender Studies/ Queer Studies
• Reproduction Research
• Social Aspects of Infertility
• Post‑socialism
• Russia, Eastern Europe
• Ethnographic Research

Gender and health

Global health research methods 

Qualitative research ethics

• PhD, De Montfort University.
• MSc Cultural Anthropology: Sociocultural Transformations (research), Utrecht University
• BA Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna.

HEST 5102 Researching Global Health 

HEST 5105 Global Health Dissertations

HEST 1118 Psychological & Sociological Theories of Health & Illness

HEST 3218 Gender, Health and Health Care

HEST 3110 Dissertation - Health Studies

• PhD Studentship, De Montfort University, 2013-16
• Visiting Research Scholarship, The Netherlands Institute in Saint Petersburg, 2012-13

BSA

• Weis, C and Kirpichenko, M (2022) ‘Traditional family values’ and the looming ban of Russian transnational surrogacy ‘for everybody’, Reproductive Futures, Tampere, 16 June 2022   

 

• Reproductive Mobilities in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. TEACH IN instead of seminar in solidarity with the UCU’s strike action. Reproductive Migrations: Mobility, Stratification and Reproductive Labour. Compas Seminar Series, Oxford, November 24 

 

•  “From a purely selfish perspective, it feels so good to help someone have a family.” Known donors’ experiences in the UK. Webinar Round Table: Paths to Parenthub. March 2022.

 

• • Weis, C., Lafuente-Funes, S. and Hudson, N. Egg Provider views on the uses of eggs in the age of cryopreservation: a study of the UK, Belgium and Spain. BSA Annual Conference 2021 - remaking the future. Virtual Conference. April 2021.

 

• Changing fertility landscapes. Exploring the reproductive routes and choices of fertility travellers from China for ART treatment in Russia. BSA Annual Conference 2021 - remaking the future. Virtual Conference. April 2021.

 

• New Fertility Chains between China, Russia and Kazakhstan: ExploringReproductive Routes and Reproductive Hubs for Surrogacy in theFormer Soviet Union. Reproduction, Demography and Cultural Anxieties in India and China in the 21^st Century. IIT Delhi, India. February 2020.

 

• Making a living by making a life - on the move: Experiences and stratification of surrogacy workers in Russia. XI AFIN International Conference: Towards Reproductive (In)Justice?: Mobilities, Technologies, Labouring and Decisions. Granada. September 2019

 

• Weis, C., Lafuente-Funes, S. and Hudson, N., Whose eggs? Egg providers' perspectives on the creation and utilisation of eggs in the reproductive bio-economy. XI AFIN International Conference: Towards Reproductive (In)Justice?: Mobilities, Technologies, Labouring and Decisions. Granada. September 2019

• Fetus, surrogate or intending parent – who is a patient in commercial surrogacy arrangements? Reproduction and Law - The Limits of Patient Agency. CRASSH, Cambridge, October 2019. http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/28711

• Hudson N., Coveney C., Culley L.,Goethals T., Herbrand C., Lafuente S., Pavone V., Pennings G., Provoost V., Weis C. (2019) Egg providers’ views on the use and distribution of eggs in the UK, Spain and Belgium: implications for information giving and informed consent. ESHRE. June 2019.

• Weis, C. and Norton, W. (2019). Heterosexual partnered men’s experiences of becoming fathers through surrogacy. BSA. Human Reproduction Study Group. Leicester. May 2019.

 

• Whittaker, A., Gerrits, T. and Weis, C. (2019) New Frontiers in Surrogacy Research: Asia, Africa and former Soviet States. Exploring Networks of Transnational Surrogacy, 14. - 15.02.2019. Forum Transregional Studies. Berlin. February 2019.

 

• Workers, Mothers, Migrants: Commercial surrogacy in Russia and what it means to be making a living by making a life – on the move. Human Reproduction Study Group Winter Event:  Critically Mapping Cross-Border Reproduction. Bristol. February 2019.

 

• Weis, C. and Mitra, S. (2019)  Cross-border (re)productive collaborations: conducting fragmented ethnography of surrogacy. Human Reproduction Study Group Winter Event:  Critically Mapping Cross-Border Reproduction. Bristol. February 2019.

 

• Population Politics and Assisted Reproduction in Russia. BRICS Dialogue on Fertility Industry: New Reproductions and (Old) Stratifications. University of Cape Town. October 2018.

 

• Transnational surrogacy in the post-Soviet sphere. Geographic and geo-political stratifications amongst migrant and commuting surrogacy workers in Russia. BRICS Dialogue on Fertility Industry: New Reproductions and (Old) Stratifications. University of Cape Town. October 2018.

 

• Transnational surrogacy in the post-Soviet sphere. Geographic and geo-political stratifications amongst migrant and commuting surrogacy workers in Russia. 4S Sydney. August 2018.

 

• Who Controls the Womb? How commercial surrogacy agencies are entrepreneurs attempting to change surrogacy regulations in Russia. Remaking Reproduction. The Global Politics of Reproductive Technologies, University of Cambridge, 27-29 June 2018

 

• Bioavailability and Beyond. Egg Donation in Spain. (Dr Michal Nahman and Dr Christina Weis). Deconstructing Donation Study Group Conference. University of Bristol, UK, December 2017. 

 

• Geographic and Geo-Political Stratifications across Russia’s ‘Reproscapes’: Experiences of Migrant and Commuting Surrogacy Workers in St Petersburg. Ethnographies of Surrogacy Practice. Global Surrogacy and Local Practices. University of Amsterdam, December 2017.

 

• ‘Fertile’, ‘docile’, yet undesired. Ethnic stratifications of the ‘other’, non‑Slavic surrogacy worker. X AFIN International Conference: Reproductive Politics, Rights and Desires. Barcelona, November 2017

 

• ‘Fertile’, ‘docile’, yet undesired. Ethnic stratifications of the ‘other’, non Slavic surrogacy worker. Gender and Sexuality in Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia: past and present. University of Nottingham, March 2017.

 

• ‘Fertile’, ‘docile’, yet undesired. Ethnic stratifications of the ‘other’, non Slavic surrogacy worker. Gender and Sexuality in Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia: past and present. University of Nottingham, March 2017.

 

• Reproductive Migration - Reproductive Stratification. Commercial Surrogate Motherhood in St Petersburg, Russia. Poster Presentation. 9th International Conference on Social Science Methodology. University of Leicester. September 2016.

 

• Wearing out my Welcome? Negotiating Authority and Access when Recruiting Participants with the Help of Gatekeepers. 9th International Conference on Social Science Methodology, Social Studies of Reproduction: Conceptualising and Accessing Reproduction. University of Leicester. September 2016.

 

• Morally Prepared, Making Rational Decisions:  Becoming a Gestational Surrogacy Worker in Russia. 2nd AIBR International Conference of Anthropology, Barcelona. September 2016.

 

• Perspektiven und Methoden der Medizinanthropologie am Beispiel kommerzieller Leihmutterschaft [Medical Anthropological Issues and Methods. The Example of Commercial Surrogacy].  Summer Academy for Integrative Medicine. Witten, Germany. August 2016.

 

• Emotionen als (ethnographische) Forschungsmethodik und Umgang mit eigenen Emotionen im Forschungsprozess [Emotions as an Ethnographic Method and Working with Researcher’s Emotions]. Summer Academy for Integrative Medicine. Witten, Germany. August 2016.

 

• Making the Relationship Work. Ethnographic Accounts of Surrogacy Relationships in St Petersburg, Russia. Framing International Surrogacy, Workshop. University of Sussex. July 2016.

 

• Working with your emotions when your emotions work on you. LOVA School of Experimental Education. University of Amsterdam. July 2016.

• The process of deciding and becoming a surrogacy worker in Russia. Second Health and Life Science PhD Student Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. June 2016.

• Emotion work and self-care in feminist ethnographic research. School of Applied Social Science Symposium. De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. June 2016.

• Sidelined in the process – and in research? Researching cis-gendered heterosexual men in gestational surrogacy arrangements. Human Reproduction Study Group Annual Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. June 2016.

• Trajectories of labour and delivery: Surrogacy workers in Russia. Gender, justice and the political economy of the cross-border fertility industry, University of Vienna, Austria. April 2016.

• Surrogacy Workers: Russia's Reproductive Migrants and the Market in Commercial Surrogate Motherhood. Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, University of Texas, Austin, USA. February 2016.

• The Organisation and Negotiation of Commercial Gestational Surrogacy in Russia. Reproductive Rights, New Reproductive Technologies and the European Fertility Market. University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain. November 2015.

• Between Duty, Desire and Denial - Negotiating a Surrogacy Relationship. Presentation. BSA Human Reproduction Study Group Annual Conference. Open University, Milton Keynes. July 2015.

• Duty or Desire? How Surrogate Mothers Negotiate the Relationship with Intending Parents. Presentation. Political is Personal: Regime of Gender, Health and Care. European University at Saint Petersburg, Russia. April 2015.

• ‘Не страшно ничего, работа есть работа. [Not horrible at all, work is work]’. Working as a ‘Surrogate Mother’ in Saint Petersburg. Seminar. Centre for Independent Social Research. Saint Petersburg, Russia. September 2014.

• “Born to Birth”? – Gestational Surrogacy as a Form of Reproductive Body Work in Russia. Presentation. LOVA 3rd International Conference. Ethnographies of Gender and the Body.  Amsterdam. July 2014.

• Reproductive Migrations. Gestational Surrogacy Workers in Russia. Poster presentation. Psychology, Sociology and Politics Research Conference. Sheffield Hallam University. June 2014.

• Reproductive Migrations. Gestational Surrogacy Workers in Russia. Presentation at Reproduction Research Group Meeting. De Montfort University, Leicester. June 2014.

• Being Pregnant or Doing Work? Gestational Surrogacy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Presentation. Postgraduate Conference ‘The Sociology of Technologically Mediated Reproduction’. De Montfort University, Leicester. May 2014.

• Reproductive Migrations. Gestational Surrogacy Workers in Russia. Poster presentation. ‘Research Degree Students’ Poster Competition and Research Open Day’. De Montfort University, Leicester. April 2014. Award for best poster.

• Peste hotare. Influența migrației forței de muncă cu privire la alegerile educaționale ale copiilor migranților din Republica Moldova. [Abroad. The impact of labour migration on the educational choices of the migrants' children in the Republic of Moldova]. Presentation. Anthropological Seminar. Moldova State University, Chişinău. December 2010.

Cathi Rae (Univerity of Leicester, M4C scholarship student in Creative Writing); 3rd supervisor