The present article explores the social and subjective dimensions of the biological clock and its implications for reproductive time through a qualitative study based on 40 life story interviews of women from Santiago de Chile. Although the narrative of the biological clock has become a prevalent frame for addressing reproductive time in the context of late childbearing, age-related infertility, and the use of assisted reproductive technologies, few studies engage in an in-depth analysis of the biological clock—its boundaries, dynamics, and the particular ways in which it shapes women’s views and experiences of reproductive time. The present article aims to advance current knowledge on the intersection of time, reproduction, and biopolitics by arguing that the biological clock regulates reproductive time by shaping the boundaries and dynamics of female fertility through the clock. By determining reproductive time as quantitative, standardised, linear, and irreversible and by outlining the passing of time through pressure, risk, and burden, the biological clock determines when it is possible and desirable to have children and regulates reproduction, gender, and the female life course. These findings highlight the importance of critically addressing the narrative of the biological clock and its implications for women’s views and experiences of reproductive time.

中文翻译：

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生物钟：生殖时间的年龄、风险和生物政治

本文通过基于对来自智利圣地亚哥的 40 位女性的生活故事访谈的定性研究，探讨了生物钟的社会和主观维度及其对生育时间的影响。尽管在晚育、年龄相关的不孕症和辅助生殖技术的使用中，生物钟的叙述已经成为解决生育时间的普遍框架，但很少有研究对生物钟进行深入分析——它的边界、动态以及它塑造女性对生育时间的看法和体验的特殊方式。本文旨在推进当前关于时间、繁殖、和生物政治学认为，生物钟通过通过生物钟塑造女性生育能力的界限和动态来调节生殖时间。通过将生育时间确定为定量的、标准化的、线性的和不可逆转的，并通过压力、风险和负担勾勒出时间的流逝，生物钟确定何时可能和需要生育孩子并​​调节生殖、性别和女性生命历程。这些发现强调了批判性地处理生物钟的叙述及其对女性生育时间的看法和经历的影响的重要性。生物钟决定何时可以和需要生育孩子，并调节生殖、性别和女性的生命历程。这些发现强调了批判性地处理生物钟的叙述及其对女性生育时间的看法和经历的影响的重要性。生物钟决定何时可以和需要生育孩子，并调节生殖、性别和女性的生命历程。这些发现强调了批判性地处理生物钟的叙述及其对女性生育时间的看法和经历的影响的重要性。