Fertile Minds in Infertile Bodies

LaRiCA | Advanced Communication Research LabUniversity of Urbino “Carlo Bo”

Roberta Bartoletti, Lella Mazzoli, Giovanni Boccia Artieri, Laura GeminiLaRiCA | Advanced Communication Research LabUniversity of Urbino “Carlo Bo” - Italy

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OR EUROPEAN SOCIETIES?Lisboa, 2-5 Sept 2009

RN13 Sociology of Families and Intimate Lives SESSION CODE: 8B

The Transition to Parenthood: Consequences and AdaptationChair Jean-Luc Gauthier (CH)

05 Set 2009 - 13:30 Building II Auditório B1.03

Fertile minds in infertile bodies. Social constraints, procreative wishes and life choices of infertile couples in Italy


The study

Several studies conducted from 2004 to now by the LaRiCA in the framework of an Observatory on Infertility as a Social Problem

in cooperation with the Istituto Superiore della Sanità, the main national institute for research on public health issues in Italy (2008-2009).


The focus of the study

The social characteristics, wishes, life experiences and choices

of infertile couples and infertile individuals

who decided to undergo a medical treatment for infertility in a private or public health facility in Italy (Bologna, Abano Terme, Udine, Milan or Naples).


The methodology

Interviews with informants (gynaecologists, psychologists, patients associations, …).

28 individual interviews (Abano Terme) and 2 focus groups (Naples and Milan) with men and women with a personal history of infertility.

December 2008 - April 2009.

The aim: to construct a narrative of living with infertility.

The final goal: to design an effective strategy for the prevention of infertility amongst younger Italian generations (18-25 years old).


Infertility: a definition

The World Health Organisation has defined infertility as “the diminished or absent ability to conceive or produce an offspring, while sterility is the complete inability to conceive or produce an offspring”.

Primary Infertility is defined as neither partner having achieved a pregnancy. Secondary Infertility is defined as when a pregnancy has previously been achieved by the couple but regular, unprotected intercourse has not resulted in a second pregnancy.


A national framework: infertility as a growing problem?

In developed countries, between 8% and 12% of all couples will experience some form of infertility during their reproductive lives.

In Italy, the National Statistics Bureau, Censis, estimates that about a million Italian couples cope with infertility.

In 2006, 52,206 couples undergoing treatment for infertility in 342 centers nationwide (Public Medically Assisted Procreation Inventory census).


Findings: the contradictory process of identity construction of infertile couples in the current Italian society 1

Greater awareness of parenthood (perceived)

Infertility as an element in the construction of a strong identity

Children as a fundamental point of reference in the construction of the idea of ‘family’


Findings: the percieved paradox in Italian culture 1

Italian society affirms the importance of the family and of children, but it does not bring together conditions contributing to make this ‘value’ possible.

A lack of public policies.

Infertility as a private problem?


Findings: the contradictory process of identity construction of infertile couples in the current Italian society 2

Cultural integration and social marginalization of infertile couples

Desire to be visible and understood, silence and isolation (and auto-segregation).


Findings: contradiction in Italian culture

A hypothesis:

Infertility reveals a structural contradiction in Italian society that the society tries to remove, a contradiction that regards its founding values and the resulting patterns of social behaviour and choices that are socially approved or disapproved.

This contradiction is embodied in the bodies and minds of infertile couples, and could be considered a further cause of the significant suffering that characterizes their lives.


Proposals: education, information and communication

to improve the communication about the problem of infertility in Italian society

to improve the information targeted at young generations, in order to prevent a growing problem of physical and psychological health in our modern society


THANK YOU FOR THE ATTENTION!

The Research Team

Lella Mazzoli, LaRiCA DirectorRoberta Bartoletti, LaRiCA senior researcherGiovanni Boccia Artieri, LaRiCA senior researcherLaura Gemini, LaRiCA senior researcherLuca Rossi, LaRiCA junior researcher Lorenzo Giannini, LaRiCA junior researcher Monica Baroni, LaRiCA junior researcher

Marina Mengarelli, Osservatorio Sociale Infertilità

Giulia Scaravelli, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Director RPMAPaola D’Aloja, Istituto Superiore SanitàRoberta Spoletini, Istituto Superiore Sanità


The Research Site and Weblog

Fertile Minds in Infertile Bodies

Education

Transcript of Fertile Minds in Infertile Bodies