Ophra Leyser-Whalen
Biographic Data
| ID | 190487 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ophra Leyser-Whalen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ophra |
| FAMILY NAME | Leyser-Whalen |
| SIGNATURE | LEYSER-WHALEN O |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at El Paso |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3607-4269 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The feminist care work in abortion funds
Time Pressures and Sociocultural Constraints Affecting Access to Early Abortion Care Under Texas’ “6-Week” Ban
Clearer messaging around when abortion is prohibited and free, accessible pregnancy confirmation services inclusive of all care options would better support pregnant people's abortion care navigation
Beyond Body Parts
Utilizing a symbolic interactionist lens in analysis of 16 in-depth interviews with 13 women and three men who had used fertility treatments in the United States, I reveal how the uterus was a powerful symbol for those struggling with infertility as they drew upon cultural norms and co-created meaning through interactions with multiple others. The uterus represented more than a biological body part; it symbolized the cultural power of biomedicine…
Abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers as patient navigators following an abortion ban in Texas
Local abortion assistance funds worked with Texas callers to co-create person-centered plans for care and expanded inter-organization collaborations. Initiatives that bolster local assistance funds' infrastructure and capacity will be needed as the abortion access landscape becomes further restricted and complex
Teenage Dreams
Weighing the Future
No Real Choice
From generalist to specialist
The Continuum of Sexual and Reproductive Health Talk Types Daughters have with Mothers and Siblings
Another disaster
The devastating effects of natural hazards uncover and exacerbate social inequalities, yet reproductive health outcomes are often overlooked. Despite a small but growing literature on gender and disaster-related impacts, there are no studies to date to our knowledge on the intersection of abortion and disasters, which is important because abortion is common in the U.S. and is a critical component of comprehensive reproductive healthcare yet is ro…
Does Self-Identifying as Having a Health Problem Precede Medical Contact? The Case of Infertility
Studies of medical help-seeking presume that self-identifying as having a health problem precedes medical contact, but this ordering of the identity-behavior relationship has not been systematically examined. We used longitudinal data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (2004 to 2010) on 412 women with infertility to document the temporal relationship between self-identifying as having a fertility problem and making medical contact. Th…
Infertility and Self-identification
Nearly one-third to one-half of U.S. women meets the medical criteria for infertility at some point in their reproductive lives. Yet many do not view lack of conception as problematic. Why might some women self-identify as having a fertility problem but others do not? Using two waves of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we conducted binary and longitudinal multinomial logistic regression to answer this question. Results suggest that only…
Situating Oneself in the Intersectional Hierarchy
Just because a doctor says something, doesn't mean that [it] will happen
Only some individuals who have the medically defined condition 'infertility' adopt a self-definition as having a fertility problem, which has implications for social and behavioural responses, yet there is no clear consensus on why some people and not others adopt a medical label. We use interview data from 28 women and men who sought medical infertility treatment to understand variations in self-identification. Results highlight the importance o…
Average age at last live birth in ‘lucky few’ and ‘late baby boom’ birth cohorts in the United States
The quantum, tempo, and characteristics of population fertility can change rapidly between birth cohorts. Understanding secular trends in fertility behavior can help inform research concerned with family and health policy. The current investigation is novel in that it uses 'intersectional markers of social stratification' with a large sample of women to examine if the average age at last live birth shifted between two birth cohorts. The analysis …
Mexican Americans’ Lucky Few and Baby Boom Cohorts
Generational cohorts influence individuals’ economic life chances. Retrospective analysis has found that the “Lucky Few” generation had better life chances than previous generations. We focus on Mexican Americans in the United States and offer a prospective analysis to explore how relative cohort size plays a role in the odds of their being out-of-poverty. Using Public Use Microdata Sample files from 1990, 2000, and 2010, we test the hypothesis b…
Control and Constraint for Low-Income Women Choosing Outpatient Sterilization
Little is known about Hispanics and their contraceptive choices in general, with some past studies detailing nonconsensual sterilization. This article is based on interviews with a mostly Hispanic sample of 44 women being sterilized at a public clinic in southeast Texas with the Essure device, which entails a new outpatient sterilization procedure. The women cited relationship factors, wanting to better their and their children's lives, and past …
Doing Masculinity in a Mental Hospital
This ethnographic study explores how men constructed and enacted masculinity in a total institution. The author observed residents in public areas in two branches of a mental hospital in an urban area in the Midwest. She found that the residents at the hospital adhered to gender ideologies found in larger Western cultures. The structural constraints at the hospital, however, hindered the men from doing masculinity in ways granted to men in the "o…
Madness in Its Place
Carol A. B. Warren, Evelyn Clark, Molly Dingel, Wendy Dodrill, Pepper Glass, Melissa Haveman, Derek Jackson, Vickie Kennedy, Ophra Leyser, Amy Luebbers, Kelley Massoni, Chris Osipik, Kara VanCleaf, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jul., 2000), pp. 670-671
Doing Masculinity in a Mental Hospital
This ethnographic study explores how men constructed and enacted masculinity in a total institution. The author observed residents in public areas in two branches of a mental hospital in an urban area in the Midwest. She found that the residents at the hospital adhered to gender ideologies found in larger Western cultures. The structural constraints at the hospital, however, hindered the men from doing masculinity in ways granted to men in the "o…
Just because a doctor says something, doesn't mean that [it] will happen
Only some individuals who have the medically defined condition 'infertility' adopt a self-definition as having a fertility problem, which has implications for social and behavioural responses, yet there is no clear consensus on why some people and not others adopt a medical label. We use interview data from 28 women and men who sought medical infertility treatment to understand variations in self-identification. Results highlight the importance o…
Mexican Americans’ Lucky Few and Baby Boom Cohorts
Generational cohorts influence individuals’ economic life chances. Retrospective analysis has found that the “Lucky Few” generation had better life chances than previous generations. We focus on Mexican Americans in the United States and offer a prospective analysis to explore how relative cohort size plays a role in the odds of their being out-of-poverty. Using Public Use Microdata Sample files from 1990, 2000, and 2010, we test the hypothesis b…
Abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers as patient navigators following an abortion ban in Texas
Local abortion assistance funds worked with Texas callers to co-create person-centered plans for care and expanded inter-organization collaborations. Initiatives that bolster local assistance funds' infrastructure and capacity will be needed as the abortion access landscape becomes further restricted and complex
Infertility and Self-identification
Nearly one-third to one-half of U.S. women meets the medical criteria for infertility at some point in their reproductive lives. Yet many do not view lack of conception as problematic. Why might some women self-identify as having a fertility problem but others do not? Using two waves of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we conducted binary and longitudinal multinomial logistic regression to answer this question. Results suggest that only…
Situating Oneself in the Intersectional Hierarchy
Control and Constraint for Low-Income Women Choosing Outpatient Sterilization
Little is known about Hispanics and their contraceptive choices in general, with some past studies detailing nonconsensual sterilization. This article is based on interviews with a mostly Hispanic sample of 44 women being sterilized at a public clinic in southeast Texas with the Essure device, which entails a new outpatient sterilization procedure. The women cited relationship factors, wanting to better their and their children's lives, and past …
From generalist to specialist
Does Self-Identifying as Having a Health Problem Precede Medical Contact? The Case of Infertility
Studies of medical help-seeking presume that self-identifying as having a health problem precedes medical contact, but this ordering of the identity-behavior relationship has not been systematically examined. We used longitudinal data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (2004 to 2010) on 412 women with infertility to document the temporal relationship between self-identifying as having a fertility problem and making medical contact. Th…
Madness in Its Place
Carol A. B. Warren, Evelyn Clark, Molly Dingel, Wendy Dodrill, Pepper Glass, Melissa Haveman, Derek Jackson, Vickie Kennedy, Ophra Leyser, Amy Luebbers, Kelley Massoni, Chris Osipik, Kara VanCleaf, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jul., 2000), pp. 670-671
Doing Masculinity in a Mental Hospital
This ethnographic study explores how men constructed and enacted masculinity in a total institution. The author observed residents in public areas in two branches of a mental hospital in an urban area in the Midwest. She found that the residents at the hospital adhered to gender ideologies found in larger Western cultures. The structural constraints at the hospital, however, hindered the men from doing masculinity in ways granted to men in the "o…
Control and Constraint for Low-Income Women Choosing Outpatient Sterilization
Little is known about Hispanics and their contraceptive choices in general, with some past studies detailing nonconsensual sterilization. This article is based on interviews with a mostly Hispanic sample of 44 women being sterilized at a public clinic in southeast Texas with the Essure device, which entails a new outpatient sterilization procedure. The women cited relationship factors, wanting to better their and their children's lives, and past …
Mexican Americans’ Lucky Few and Baby Boom Cohorts
Generational cohorts influence individuals’ economic life chances. Retrospective analysis has found that the “Lucky Few” generation had better life chances than previous generations. We focus on Mexican Americans in the United States and offer a prospective analysis to explore how relative cohort size plays a role in the odds of their being out-of-poverty. Using Public Use Microdata Sample files from 1990, 2000, and 2010, we test the hypothesis b…
Average age at last live birth in ‘lucky few’ and ‘late baby boom’ birth cohorts in the United States
The quantum, tempo, and characteristics of population fertility can change rapidly between birth cohorts. Understanding secular trends in fertility behavior can help inform research concerned with family and health policy. The current investigation is novel in that it uses 'intersectional markers of social stratification' with a large sample of women to examine if the average age at last live birth shifted between two birth cohorts. The analysis …
Just because a doctor says something, doesn't mean that [it] will happen
Only some individuals who have the medically defined condition 'infertility' adopt a self-definition as having a fertility problem, which has implications for social and behavioural responses, yet there is no clear consensus on why some people and not others adopt a medical label. We use interview data from 28 women and men who sought medical infertility treatment to understand variations in self-identification. Results highlight the importance o…
Situating Oneself in the Intersectional Hierarchy
Another disaster
The devastating effects of natural hazards uncover and exacerbate social inequalities, yet reproductive health outcomes are often overlooked. Despite a small but growing literature on gender and disaster-related impacts, there are no studies to date to our knowledge on the intersection of abortion and disasters, which is important because abortion is common in the U.S. and is a critical component of comprehensive reproductive healthcare yet is ro…
Does Self-Identifying as Having a Health Problem Precede Medical Contact? The Case of Infertility
Studies of medical help-seeking presume that self-identifying as having a health problem precedes medical contact, but this ordering of the identity-behavior relationship has not been systematically examined. We used longitudinal data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (2004 to 2010) on 412 women with infertility to document the temporal relationship between self-identifying as having a fertility problem and making medical contact. Th…
Infertility and Self-identification
Nearly one-third to one-half of U.S. women meets the medical criteria for infertility at some point in their reproductive lives. Yet many do not view lack of conception as problematic. Why might some women self-identify as having a fertility problem but others do not? Using two waves of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we conducted binary and longitudinal multinomial logistic regression to answer this question. Results suggest that only…
From generalist to specialist
The Continuum of Sexual and Reproductive Health Talk Types Daughters have with Mothers and Siblings
Abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers as patient navigators following an abortion ban in Texas
Local abortion assistance funds worked with Texas callers to co-create person-centered plans for care and expanded inter-organization collaborations. Initiatives that bolster local assistance funds' infrastructure and capacity will be needed as the abortion access landscape becomes further restricted and complex
Teenage Dreams
Weighing the Future
No Real Choice
Time Pressures and Sociocultural Constraints Affecting Access to Early Abortion Care Under Texas’ “6-Week” Ban
Clearer messaging around when abortion is prohibited and free, accessible pregnancy confirmation services inclusive of all care options would better support pregnant people's abortion care navigation
Beyond Body Parts
Utilizing a symbolic interactionist lens in analysis of 16 in-depth interviews with 13 women and three men who had used fertility treatments in the United States, I reveal how the uterus was a powerful symbol for those struggling with infertility as they drew upon cultural norms and co-created meaning through interactions with multiple others. The uterus represented more than a biological body part; it symbolized the cultural power of biomedicine…
The feminist care work in abortion funds
Sociology (15 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Demography (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Population (9 works) · Pregnancy (9 works) · Reproductive Health and Technologies (9 works) · Demography (8 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works)