Conception beliefs, or procreation beliefs, are the various ways in which people in different societies represent, conceive of, or phrase the process of making a child. Conception beliefs vary from society to society and assign a specific part or place to the genitors and entities surrounding the coming into being of a new individual: mother, father, and their respective bodily substances; ancestors; and “suprahuman” entities, and so on. These beliefs may also help position this new individual in a preexisting relational network within society and can reflect, though not always, the local kinship system and the ideologies surrounding the places attributed to both sexes within society.