Undiagnosed Lives
Structural Vulnerability and Infertility Among Romani Migrant Women in France
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19217773 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Popa (0000-0002-0494-1401, University of Akron, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1-14 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0145-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-5882 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01459740.2026.2681054 |
| PMID | 42227349 |
| OpenAlex | W7163155000 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Academic and media accounts have neglected Romani women's issues with infertility. Historically, they have been discriminated against and stereotyped as hyperfertile, which excluded them from narratives on women's struggles with reproductive health. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in France, this article makes visible the neglected issue of infertility. It argues that structural vulnerability dramatically restricts Romani women's access to health care and makes reproductive technologies unattainable. The article shows how structural vulnerability is felt and lived and how precarious living conditions, bureaucratic obstacles, and limited access to health care intersect to produce "undiagnosed lives" among rightful migrants and European Union citizens
Bureaucracy · Ethnography · European union · Governmentality · Health care · Infertility · Narrative · Reproductive health · Vulnerability (computing) · Migration, Identity, and Health · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Romani and Gypsy Studies
Embodied Progress
They Leave Their Kidneys in the Fields
Structural Vulnerability
Discrimination as A Barrier to Romani Women’s Health and Empowerment
Sexual health of Latino migrant day labourers under conditions of structural vulnerability
Where has the quest for conception taken us? Lessons from anthropology and sociology
Race, migration and neoliberalism
Healthcare Reforms and the Creation of Ex‐/Included Categories of Patients — “Irregular Migrants” and the “Undesirable” in the French Healthcare System
Roma populations and health inequalities
Pathogenic camps, therapeutic city? Roma, healthcare, and the negotiation of citizenship rights in Rome
Austerity and its implications for immigrant health in France
Intangible obstacles
Interpreting infertility
Reproducing the nation
The Politics of Roma Migration
From 'Making a Living' to 'Getting Ahead
Care-full failure
La racialisation des patient·e·s « roms » par les médecins urgentistes
Structural Vulnerability and Hierarchies of Ethnicity and Citizenship on the Farm
Structural Vulnerability and Health
Romanian Roma migration
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |