Motherhood and assisted reproduction in a religious context: Genes, stigma and supports in Utah, United States

Abstract

Six percent of cisgender (i.e. not transgender) women aged 15-44 are considered infertile in the United States, and 12% are unable to carry a pregnancy to term. For those who yearn to create a family despite these circumstances, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is an often-utilised resource. Though faith-based institutions have been referenced as a source of support for involuntarily childless adults, it is unclear how religious doctrine, especially that which prizes 'traditional' gender roles and genetic parenthood, may be a catalyst for distress. More research is needed to understand how the socio-cultural environment affects those who are unable to conceive without assistance. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to understand the lived experiences of women who have utilised assisted reproduction in a particularly pronatalist, religious cultural context in the United States. From March to September 2017, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 cisgender women who had utilised ART. Data analysis was conducted in NVivo 10 and consisted of line-by-line analysis, identifying themes, coding categories and developing matrices to uncover relationships between themes and categories. The quest for motherhood was truly a journey for the study participants who experienced rumination and self-blame due to their inability to become pregnant. This was rooted in their socio-cultural context. Thus, the study findings suggest that culture and stigma are linked with women's distress regarding their inability to become pregnant and results in distancing from other women. Genetic parenthood was prized initially, but this desire decreased over time. While past research suggests that infertility strains relationships, our study found that the turmoil of infertility and assisted reproduction actually strengthened couple relationships. Counselling was described as particularly helpful, but it is needed throughout the assisted reproduction process. The inclusion of religion and spirituality, for those who identify as such, in counselling would be beneficial.

Muslim Women's Experiences with Infertility

“…African American women with infertility also described that the cultural ideologies placed on them from their community led them to feel stigmatized (Ceballo et al, 2015). Christian American women shared commonalities with women in the present review as they also discussed experiencing stigma due to the inability to fulfill their cultural role of bearing children (Gezinski et al, 2021). Women with infertility from the United States discussed being socially excluded or alienated from specific social or religious ceremonies and feeling stigmatized from their community because of the quiet nature of infertility (Gezinski et al, 2021).…”

“…Low self-esteem or a negative self-concept make it extremely difficult for some women who experience infertility to cope. Similar to American women, who discussed feeling sad, bitter, angry, or upset with themselves for the inability to become pregnant (Gezinski et al, 2021), women from Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, and Gambia shared that their experiences with infertility often resulted in feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression ( Batool & de Visser, 2016;Dierickx et al, 2018;Höbek Akarsu & Kızılkaya Beji, 2021;Karaca & Unsal, 2015;Mete et al, 2020;Obeidat et al, 2014). and Mumtaz et al (2013) reported that women with infertility are highly stigmatized in Iran due to societal pressure to have children; as a result, they endure psychological abuse from those around them.…”

“…African American women in one study described the cultural mandating of motherhood, which led them to have an impaired sense of self and sense of being a woman (Ceballo et al, 2015). American women that identify as Latter-Day Saints or Roman Catholics residing in Utah also discussed feeling pressure to fulfill their cultural duty of being a mother (Gezinski et al, 2021). Inhorn and Fakih (2006) found that women of Arab and African American descent described their cultures as placing a high value on parenthood, and more specifically motherhood.…”

Gender differences in attitudes toward assisted reproduction in the Spanish population: The weight of religiosity and conservatism

“…Specifically, religiosity and conservative right-wing ideology are related to lower acceptance of ARTs (Herrera et al, 2015;Irrázabal and Johnson, 2019). In this collective, they generate feelings of guilt, anguish, social isolation, rejection of ARTs, and social stigmatization of ART users, concluding that throughout the ART process, religion, and spirituality should be included as support for people who identify as such (Gezinski et al, 2021).…”