Demanding Identities
Release on 2017 | by Tara Jenner-Donaldson

For women who are unable to have children naturally, the medicalization of infertility has created an opportunity to become biological mothers.

Demanding Identities
  • Author: Tara Jenner-Donaldson
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN: OCLC:999349201
  • Category: Infertility, Female
  • Page: 206
  • View: 963

For women who are unable to have children naturally, the medicalization of infertility has created an opportunity to become biological mothers. This medicalization shapes the experience of involuntary childlessness in the Republic of Ireland and the United States due to all that fertility treatment demands and the changes in female identity that result. The goal of this dissertation is to understand through women's personal stories how the experience of medicalized infertility disrupts women's lives and alters their sense of identity. The early chapters explore medical system structures, the fertility clinic setting and governance, and public opinions about fertility and infertility. Medical system structures are explored to show how the inconsistencies in the Irish and American medical systems make seeking help for infertility difficult, which creates added burdens for individuals. The way the fertility clinic setting is designed, fertility practices are governed, and care is delivered introduces more burdens women must navigate. Public views of fertility and infertility contribute to the beliefs women form at an early age and the experience they encounter when unable to have children on their own. The chapters on medical system structures, fertility treatment governance, practices, and policies, and public perceptions provide background and context to prepare readers for later chapters and show that there are many layers of complexity women encounter when seeking medical help for reproductive problems. Through interviews with women who went through fertility treatment, I explore the demands of treatment and the identity changes that result from the medicalization of infertility to show the gravity of the experience. The demands consume patients' lives, which leads to shifts in the people they are. This type of research is important to understand how the medicalization of infertility affects women's lives. Through this interdisciplinary approach, and viewing the topic through the lens of medical humanities, I conclude that the medical community must take specific steps to make the way fertility treatment is designed and delivered more humanistic for those who must rely on the field of medicine to achieve the desire of becoming biological mothers.

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