Toward a social geography of baby farming

Abstract

This paper uses a range of archival sources to undertake a case study of the people and practices encompassed by the term “baby farming” in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It argues that baby farming needs to be located in space and time in order to reach some accommodation between its materiality and the discursive construction that continues to distort historical debate. Neither a criminal nor a compassionate practice, baby farming emerges as an economic exchange predicated on the vulnerability of single mothers, the disposability of their children, and in many cases, the desperation of poor women who see taking infants to nurse as a way of earning an income.

Acknowledgments

This article is derived from a research project entitled Birthweights and Life Chances, undertaken in collaboration with Professor Janet McCalman of the University of Melbourne and Dr. Ruth Morley of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. The Australian Research Council funded the project.