“Naturally, children”: bio-politics/bio-responsible parenthood at a medico-genetic consultation

Abstract

The article explicates the ideas of Rabinow, Rose and several other authors regarding the forms that biopolitics takes in the 21st century in relation to the development of biotechnologies. I substantially respecify these ideas using the data from a field study of genetic consultations in Moscow. On the one hand, in contrast to responsible biological subjects, at such consultations one can more likely see bio-responsible parents taking care of children. On the other hand, contrary to the traditional image of a geneticist as a person who “embodies” biopower and wants patients to avoid transmission of a hereditary condition, specialists in the genetic diseases of heart and connective tissue considered here often, on the contrary, smoothen more radical opinions of patients, work with their fears and worries. Their goals include teaching the family to properly care for a child with such a condition, plan their lifestyle and physical activity, so that (s)he can live an ordinary life.