New Technologies and Health Care Decision-Making

近年来，美国父母的平均年龄显著而稳定地增长，部分原因是医疗技术的进步帮助老年人生育子女。然而，我们对人们使用这些技术的各种原因仍然了解有限，这些原因可能与文化，宗教和社会经济因素有关。这项研究将通过检查未充分研究的美国人口中的配子转移和捐赠来解决这一差距。该项目探讨了这些技术的可用性和有效性在影响生殖决策方面的影响。该项目的研究结果将传播给那些为公共卫生实践和与医疗保健决策相关的政策提供信息的组织和个人。该项目还为本科生提供严格、科学的数据收集和分析方法方面的培训。福德姆大学的Daisy Deomampo博士将调查以下研究问题：社会文化信仰如何影响不孕症的经历和辅助生殖技术（ART）的使用？生殖医学和科学的观点和实践如何塑造关于配子捐赠的流行观念？法律的案例如何阐明社会文化对配子价值的理解？这项研究将集中在一组亚裔美国人配子捐赠者和接受者，选择他们是因为他们在配子捐赠的研究中被忽视，但有很高的ART利用率，以及与其他种族相比，母亲在第一次生育时的平均年龄更大。为了了解不同的群体在亚裔美国人的经验与配子捐赠相关的社会和文化问题，本人种学研究位于三个大都市地区，亚洲人口的显着多样性：纽约，纽约州，洛杉矶，加利福尼亚州，和檀香山，HI。数据收集将包括与医生、捐赠者协调员、配子提供者和接受者的深入访谈和参与观察。该项目还将包括对法院案件、媒体报道、在线论坛和政策文件的文本分析。这些数据将用于促进两个重要主题的分析：身份在医疗实践中的社会建设，以及身份在塑造生殖和遗传观念中的作用。通过探索配子捐赠背景下身份和DNA的社会意义，该项目将为生殖技术的生物伦理和政策影响提供急需的人种学视角。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The average age of parents in the United States has increased significantly and steadily in recent years, in part because of advances in medical technologies that assist older people in having children. However, we still have a limited understanding of the diverse reasons that people access these technologies, which are likely to relate to cultural, religious, and socioeconomic factors. This research will address this gap by examining gamete transfer and donation in an understudied U.S. population. This project explores what impact the availability and effectiveness these technologies have in influencing reproductive decision-making. The findings from this project will be disseminated to organizations and individuals who inform public health practices and policies related to healthcare decision-making. The project also provides training for undergraduate students in methods of rigorous, scientific data collection and analysis. Dr. Daisy Deomampo of Fordham University will investigate the following research questions: How do sociocultural beliefs influence experiences of infertility and the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs)? How do views and practices in reproductive medicine and science shape popular ideas about gamete donation? How do legal cases shed light on sociocultural understandings of the value of gametes? The research will focus on a cohort of Asian American gamete donors and recipients, selected because they are overlooked in research on gamete donation, yet have a high rate of ART utilization, and an older mean age of mothers at first birth compared to other ethnic groups. In order to comprehend how diverse groups in Asian America experience social and cultural issues related gamete donation, this ethnographic study is located in three metropolitan areas with significant diversity in Asian populations: New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Honolulu, HI. Data collection will include in-depth interviews and participant observation with doctors, donor coordinators, and gamete providers and recipients. This project will also include textual analysis of court cases, media coverage, online forums, and policy documents. These data will be used to facilitate analysis of two important themes: the social construction of identity in medical practice, and the role of identity in shaping ideas about reproduction and genetic inheritance. By exploring the social meanings attached to identity and DNA in the context of gamete donation, this project will offer much-needed ethnographic perspective on the bioethical and policy implications of reproductive technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.