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Sociology Research

 

Jung Chen obtained a bachelor degree in Interdisciplinary Program of Humanities and Social Sciences from National Tsing-Hua University in 2017 and graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a master degree in Sociology in 2018. Her  master dissertation focused on lesbians’ coming out experiences and strategies titled ‘Coming Out or Closeted: Lesbians' Identity and Everyday Life Practices in Taiwan.’

From 2018 to 2020, Jung was a research assistant at Chang Gung University working on the project ‘Living-Related Organ Donation Decision-Making: Gender, Power and Family Politics’ with Dr Ya-ping Lin. Focusing on the lived experiences of organ donors, recipients and families, this research investigated how intra-familial relationships and gendered divisions of care work within the household caused impacts on the medical decision-making processes.

Jung has recently completed a PhD in the Reproductive Sociology Research Group (ReproSoc) under the supervision of Professor Sarah Franklin and Dr Marcin Smietana, and her project was funded by Cambridge Trust and the Ministry of Education of Taiwan. She carried on her interests in body experiences in biomedicine and LGBTQ+ studies to her PhD project, which looks at queer reproduction in Taiwan with a specific focus on Taiwanese gay men who form families and make kinship via transnational surrogacy.

Research Interests

Medical sociology, sociology of family, sociology of reproduction, gender & intersectionality, LGBTQ+ studies

Teaching

SOC10: Sociology of Gender (2021-22)

Publications

Publications: Journal Articles:

Jung Chen. (2024) We are family: Taiwanese gay fathers’ strategic normalisation decision-making in transnational reproduction. NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies. Online first: 2 February 2024. doi.org/10.1080/18902138.2024.2311491

Jung Chen. (2024) Gendering the beginning of life: Taiwanese gay fathers’ navigation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis-assisted sex selection in transnational third-party reproduction. Sociology of Health & Illness. Online first: 27 December 2023. doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13747

Jung Chen. (2024) Taiwanese gay fathers’ queer family making: Towards a temporal-relational path. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 20(1):35-54. doi:10.1080/27703371.2023.2262425

Jung Chen. (2023) Queering reproductive justice: Framing reproduction of gay men from a transnational perspective—Taiwan as a case. Sociology Compass, 17(12): 1-18. doi:10.1111/soc4.13139

Ya-Ping Lin, Jung Chen, Wei-Chen Lee, Yang-Jen Chiang & Chih-Wan Huang. (2021) Understanding family dynamics in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation decision-making in Taiwan: Motivation, communication, and ambivalence. American Journal of Transplantation, 21(3): 1068-1079. doi:10.1111/ajt.16281

Publications: Other:

Jung Chen. (accepted, forthcoming) Bookshelf: Intimate strangers: Commercial surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine and the making of truth, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters.

Jung Chen. (accepted, forthcoming) Media review: Making gaybies: queer reproduction and multiracial feeling, LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

Jung Chen. (2023) Queer(y)ing kinship in the Baltic region and beyond. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 19(5), 431-434. doi:10.1080/27703371.2023.2218820

Jung Chen.  (2023) Donors: Curious connections in donor conception, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 31(1):1-3.  doi:10.1080/26410397.2023.2245617

Jung Chen. (2021) Queering relatedness: Book review of queer kinship and family change in Taiwan. Journal of Women’s and Gender Studies, 48:137-148. doi:10.6255/JWGS.202106_(48).05

Jung Chen. (2021) Queer kinship and family change in Taiwan. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 17(1): 84-85. doi:10.1080/1550428X.2021.1876551

Media Articles:

Jung Chen. (2022) What happens when legalisation does not catch up with the thriving surrogacy industry. Bluesci: Cambridge University Science Magazine. https://www.bluesci.co.uk/posts/what-happens-when-legislation-does-not-catch-up-with-the-thriving-surrogacy-industry

Yan-Yi Lee & Jung Chen. (2022) Same-sex reproductive rights are as important as marriage rights. Varsity. https://www.varsity.co.uk/opinion/23848

PhD Supervisor

Research Groups & Affiliations

Awards

Young Scholar Award (joint 1st Prize), European Association of Taiwan Studies

Taiwan Cambridge Scholarship, Cambridge Trust & Ministry of Education of Taiwan (2020-2024)

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Research Affiliate
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