Marginalized Reproduction

Worldwide, over 80 million people are involuntarily childless, a devastating experience for many with significant consequences for the social and psychological well-being of women in particular. This groundbreaking volume is the first to highlight the ways in which diverse ethnic, cultural and religious identities affect understanding of technological solutions for infertility and associated treatment experiences. The collection begins with a consideration of some of the key methodological challenges for social research on ethnicity and infertility. The book introduces and examines concepts of infertility such as the bio-medical definition and discusses the companion concept of ethnicity, analyzing the shortcomings of simple assessments of ethnicity common in the health literature. It also discusses the relationship between the ethnic identity of both researcher and the researched and outlines some of the major issues, which can arise in engaging minority ethnic populations in research studies on sensitive topics. Drawing on original research, the book goes on to explore infertility and reproductive technologies in relation to ethnicity in a selection in of and new reproductive technologies in Ireland.