This article carries on a discussion on reproduction and gender based on interviews with men in a human reproduction clinic in the city of Campinas (SP, Brazil),who were seeking treatment for sterility or information about methods of family planning. The object of the research was to investigate male representations of paternity, analyzing what this revealed about masculinity and the ways in which gender is constituted. The study found associations between paternity and masculinity, between fertility and masculinity, but always mediated by gender and by specific connections. The study led to a reflection on conception theories, especially on how a duogenetic theory of reproduction is present in the representations of the people interviewed about paternity and maternity.
gender; reproduction; paternities; masculinities; conception theories