scholarly journals ‘God helps those who help themselves’… religion and Assisted Reproductive Technology usage amongst urban Ghanaians

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260346
Author(s):  
Rosemond Akpene Hiadzi ◽  
Isaac Mensah Boafo ◽  
Peace Mamle Tetteh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technology ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Reproductive Technology ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Desire To Have Children ◽  
Cultural Implications

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) is increasingly becoming a viable option for infertile couples in Ghana. There exists significant literature that explores the gender, legal, religious and socio-cultural implications of ART usage. In this paper, we expand the discourse on the nexus between religion and ART usage by looking at how the former is used as a frame of reference in the decision-making process, as well as how it is employed to explain treatment successes and failures. Irrespective of religious orientation, there was a general acceptance of ART by participants in the study-with exceptions only when it came to some aspects of the procedure. Even here, participants’ desperate desire to have children, tended to engender some accommodation of procedures they were uncomfortable with because of their religious beliefs. Thus, in contrast to some studies that suggest religion as interfering with ART use, we posit that religion is not an inhibiting factor to ART usage. On the contrary, it is an enabling factor, engendering the agentic attitude of participants to find a solution to their infertility in ART; as well as providing the strength to endure the physical and emotional discomfort associated with the biomedical process of conception and childbirth. In this context, religion thus provides participants with a frame of reference to navigate the spaces between decision-making, treatment processes and outcomes, and attributions of responsibility for the outcomes whatever they may be.

Institutional Vulnerability to Social Constructions

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éric Montpetit ◽  
Christine Rothmayr ◽  
Frédéric Varone
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technology ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Reproductive Technology ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Policy Makers

This article contributes to efforts to integrate power-based, institutionalist, and constructivist perspectives on policy making. Using an analysis of policy designs for assisted reproductive technology, the authors argue that jurisdictional federations are more vulnerable to social constructions based on widely held perceptions of social groups than functional federations and, to a lesser extent, unitary states. In fact, policy makers in jurisdictional federations tend to rely on communicative discourses aimed at convincing a wide public, whereas those in functional federations need coordinative discourses to obtain the support of actors who play key roles in decision making. Where coordinative discourses prevail over communicative discourses, policy makers will more likely target advantaged groups with restrictive policies.

The role of inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of premature labor in multiple pregnancy as a result of ART

2016 ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
B.M. Ventskivskiy ◽  
◽  
I.V. Poladych ◽  
S.O. Avramenko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Reproductive Technology ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokines ◽  
Proinflammatory Cytokines ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Multiple Pregnancy ◽  
Reproductive Technology ◽  
System Level ◽  
Premature Labor ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

In recent years there has been an increase in the frequency of multiple pregnancies and the associated perinatal losses. It is a result of multiple pregnancy in ART refers to a high-risk gestation, at which premature births occur in 2 times more often than in singleton pregnancies. The objective: to determine the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of premature labor in multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Patients and methods. to determine the pro-inflammatory cytokines that all pregnant with bagtopliddyam held immunosorbent assay, defined concentrations of interleukin (IL) in serum and cervical mucus. Results. The analysis of the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-8) in the test environment, found high concentrations in the surveyed women with multiple pregnancy, due to the use of ART, compared with spontaneous multiple and singleton pregnancy. Increased concentration of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with multiple pregnancy by ART is associated with their synthesis at the system level, it stimulated foci of inflammation in the female genitals and extragenital localization. This correlates with the clinical data and statistical analysis, patients with multiple pregnancy as a result of ART had weighed infectious-inflammatory history. Conclusion. The study showed that elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the systemic and local level in patients with multiple pregnancy due to ART, typical for women with miscarriage, because of the physiological course of pregnancy characterized by the predominance of anti-inflammatory cytokines that prevent rejection of the fetus as a foreign factor. Based on the data obtained proved the role of systemic inflammatory factors in the genesis of preterm labor in women with a multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Key words: multiple pregnancy, assisted reproductive technology, premature birth, interleukine-1, interleukine-8.

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