Anticipating Infertility

Egg Freezing, Genetic Preservation, and Risk

Bibliographic Data

ID18978552
AuthorsLauren Jade Martins (0000-0003-2324-174X, City University of New York Graduate Center, corresponding author), Lauren Jade Martin (City University of New York Graduate Center)
Year2017
Publication date2017-02-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeOTHER
DOI10.31235/osf.io/rksgm
OpenAlexW4245383490
LanguageEN
Citations received88
References cited51

This article discusses the new reproductive technology of egg freezing in the context of existing literature on gender, medicalization, and infertility. What is unique about this technology is its use by women who are not currently infertile but who may anticipate a future diagnosis. This circumstance gives rise to a new ontological category of “anticipated infertility.” The author draws on participant observation and a qualitative analysis of scientific, mainstream, and marketing literature to identify and compare the representation of two different candidates for egg freezing: women with cancer and healthy young women. Although both populations experience anticipated infertility, their dichotomous portrayals as appropriate candidates are demonstrative of gender norms linking women to motherhood. Egg freezing is a concise illustration of how the medicalization of women’s bodies and bodily processes masks a host of cultural anxieties about aging, illness, reproduction, and risk

Biology · Demonstrative · Gynecology · Infertility · Mainstream · Masculinity · Medicalization · Political science · Pregnancy · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Reproduction · Social science · Sociology · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · Medicine · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies

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