透過訪談曾赴美參與生育旅遊經驗的女性,本研究指出,在這類跨國家庭的母職經驗裡,傳播科技的使用扮演了多重的角色。第一,受訪者在懷孕、生產和產後初生嬰兒照護階段中多數時間與其它家庭成員跨國分居,她們使用各種傳播科技創造出虛擬的共存(virtual co-presence),滿足生育階段時的數種情感需求。第二,虛擬的共存對於這些跨國生育女性來說,同時也是一種情感勞動。第三,透過虛擬的共存,懷孕女性的身體也在跨國家庭通訊中被監控。
ocusing on the context of birth tourism from Taiwan to the USA, this article examines how uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are embedded in the changing expectations of motherhood brought about by transnationally split family structure. Based on in-depth interviews with Taiwanese women who have participated in birth tourism to the USA, the findings suggest the significance of ICT uses in the context of birth tourism where expecting mothers are largely separated from other family members throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care. Firstly, the interviewees rely on various ICTs to create the experience of virtual co-presence, which serves to satisfy their emotional and physical needs during pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care. Secondly, uses of ICTs also serve as emotional labour for expectant mothers as pregnant bodies have become the “spectacle of family intimacy”. Thirdly, pregnant bodies are subject to surveillance in virtual co-presence in this context.