TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEYS: The Impact of First-Time Motherhood on Mexican Women's Migration Experiences in the US South

Based on interviews and participant observation, this article examines the role of pregnancy and first-time motherhood in Mexican women's "gender-transformative Odyssey" from single, transnational workers to first-time mothers and partners with transnational obligations. I underscore multiple intersecting dimensions within women's transformative journeys: from being single to being a partner and mother, from full-time paid worker to full-time unpaid caretaker, from remittance sender to economic dependent and from short-term migrant to long-term resident in the US South. Interviews reveal that the gendered caretaking mie associated with motherhood begins during women's pregnancy and disrupts the transgressée path to economic autonomy that characterized women's entry to the United States as single, childless women. Negotiating their transition from full-time workers who send money to family in Mexico to at least temporarily staying home to care for their children implies prioritizing more traditional gender roles and the loss of economic autonomy and ability to send remittances. Women are keenly aware of, and negotiate, both the cultural scripts of motherhood and the realities of transnational family needs.