Doctoral Dissertation Research: Anticipating Infertility: The Emergence of a Medical Market for Fertility Preservation

博士论文研究：预测不孕不育：生育力保存医疗市场的出现

• 批准号: 1904338
• 负责人: Jennifer Bair
• 金额: $ 1.59万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-04-01 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1904338&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Anticipating; Infertility

This project investigates the social meaning and implications of fertility preservation as a new medical intervention directed at healthy women. Egg freezing, the foremost fertility preservation technology, extends the reproductive life span by preserving a woman's fertility beyond the limits of her reproductive years. Rather than treat the condition of infertility in women, egg freezing anticipates age-related infertility in otherwise healthy women of reproductive age. Techniques such as egg freezing are now being developed and marketed as a potential reconciliation of motherhood and professional work by adjusting women's reproductive timelines to synchronize with career trajectories. While egg freezing appears to give women more control over their lives by altering the timing of reproduction, it does so in a social context that emphasizes motherhood and where the conditions of professional work often create irreconcilable time conflicts between career advancement and family formation. Such new technologies also appear in a medical context that promotes health and the prevention of illness through invasive biomedical interventions. This project examines this tension at the crux of debates regarding, on the one hand, claims about women's expanding agency, and on the other, the persistent messaging suggesting motherhood as essential to their identity. Findings from this project will inform the medical and public health professions, particularly in the field of reproductive medicine, regarding their work using new technologies. In addition, this project will be useful to policy-makers concerned with eligibility for and accessibility to egg freezing by providing insight into women's motivations, experiences, and perspectives on fertility preservation strategies. Findings will also inform societal conversations regarding the complex relationships between fertility preservation, gender inequality in the workplace and the issue of work-family conflict.This dissertation employs a qualitative mixed-methods design to address two research questions. First, the project will examine articles published in clinical journals in the field of reproductive medicine, popular women's and business magazines, and newspapers since 1980 to trace how professional and media claims have helped establish egg freezing as an elective, social or lifestyle choice, thus extending to a new population technologies originally developed for women with compromised fertility due to illness or other medical issues. Second, the project will conduct ethnographic observation at educational and marketing events aimed at promoting fertility preservation. Third, the project will conduct 80 in-depth, qualitative interviews with experts in the field of reproductive medicine, women who use egg freezing, and a range of actors who promote fertility preservation techniques in three United States cities that are major destinations for fertility services. The project will analyze all data using both open and structured coding. Findings from the project will inform sociological theories related to gender, family, and the workplace, particularly those theories concerning work-family conflict and women's life course in the 21st century.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.

本项目调查了作为一种针对健康妇女的新的医疗干预措施而保留生育能力的社会意义和影响。卵子冷冻是最重要的生育保存技术，它通过保存超过生育年限的女性的生育能力来延长生殖寿命。卵子冷冻不是治疗女性的不孕症，而是预测其他健康的育龄女性与年龄相关的不孕不育。现在正在开发和销售卵子冷冻等技术，通过调整妇女的生殖时间线以与职业轨迹同步，将母亲身份和专业工作潜在地协调起来。虽然冷冻卵子似乎通过改变生育时间让女性对自己的生活有了更多的控制权，但它是在强调为人母的社会背景下这样做的，在那里，专业工作的条件往往会在职业发展和家庭形成之间造成不可调和的时间冲突。这种新技术也出现在通过侵入性生物医学干预促进健康和预防疾病的医学背景下。该项目探讨了这种紧张关系的症结所在，一方面是关于妇女不断扩大的机构的主张，另一方面是持续不断的信息表明母亲身份对她们的身份至关重要。该项目的调查结果将使医疗和公共卫生专业人员，特别是生殖医学领域的专业人员了解他们使用新技术开展的工作。此外，该项目将有助于关注卵子冷冻资格和可及性的政策制定者，通过深入了解妇女的动机、经验和对保留生育战略的看法。研究结果还将为社会对话提供有关生育力保持、工作场所性别不平等和工作-家庭冲突问题之间复杂关系的信息。本论文采用定性混合方法设计来解决两个研究问题。首先，该项目将审查自1980年以来发表在生殖医学领域的临床期刊、流行的妇女和商业杂志以及报纸上的文章，以追踪专业人士和媒体如何帮助将卵子冷冻确立为一种可选的、社会或生活方式的选择，从而扩展到最初为因疾病或其他医疗问题而生育能力受损的女性开发的新人口技术。第二，该项目将在旨在促进保持生育能力的教育和营销活动中进行人种学观察。第三，该项目将对生殖医学领域的专家、使用卵子冷冻的妇女以及在作为生育服务主要目的地的三个美国城市推广保留生育技术的一系列行为者进行80次深入、定性的访谈。该项目将使用开放式和结构化编码来分析所有数据。该项目的发现将为与性别、家庭和工作场所有关的社会学理论提供信息，特别是那些关于工作-家庭冲突和21世纪女性生命历程的理论。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。