Social Struggles and Treatment Seeking Behaviors of Infertile Women among Different Classes in the Urban Areas of Bangladesh

Background: Infertility is considered a taboo in the society of Bangladesh and is negated in reproductive health programs as well as in the research setting. Yet it is crucial and endemic for social and public health sectors. In Bangladesh, infertile women have to bear the drudgery of dishonor and shame because of their childlessness. The childless women have to shoulder most of the burden of ill-treatment for impotence regardless of who is at fault. Like other social stigmas, this also intersects across class, gender and setting barriers. Objective: The aim of the study is to understand the social struggles, stigmatization and treatment seeking behavior of infertile women of different classes in the urban context of Bangladesh. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative research methodology with in-depth interviews was used to collect data from 20 childless urban women aged between 18 to 45 years. They were urban residents for at least ten years and were aware of their infertile condition for at least one year. Results: The research results showed that childless women, irrespective of their class identities, always live with stigma, accusations and fear of abandonment in their personal lives. It also initiates an arena of violence. Many infertile women face physical and mental abuse due to their childlessness. The treatment seeking behaviors also vary based on financial conditions and the formality of the services among infertile women of different social classes. Conclusion: Infertility is a critical component of reproductive health. When a woman’s worth is measured by her reproductive functions, the childless woman faces humiliation and even abandonment. Attitude towards them is changed due to the societal norms and patriarchal social structures. This affects their treatment seeking behaviors as well. A proper understanding of the social condition of infertile women will facilitate the improved quality of women’s reproductive health care services. J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll 2020; 12(2): 82-86

The Unethical Nature of Abuse of Childless Women in African Traditional Thought/Practice

One of the major challenges confronting marriages and families in African from the past to the present is the issue of barrenness or childlessness. Childlessness was often blamed on the woman, even though at times it may arise from the medical conditions of a man. African traditional culture had great value for children and childless marriage was seen as cursed and the woman in particular was even labelled a “man” or a witch. The woman is often verbally abused, and physical violence was meted on her. The marriage is often made unbearable and uncomfortable for the woman by the man or the in-laws of the woman. In some exceptional cases, the man and his relatives were understanding and coped with the situation or the man was allowed to marry another woman, while bearing with the childless woman. In order to cope with the challenge of childlessness women even encouraged their husbands to marry another woman (women). This paper written from critical philosophical analysis and hermeneutics argues that this abuse of childless women is unethical/immoral. The paper will draw upon instances from both written and oral literature to bring light on this belief and practice. No woman or man gives children. Even though a woman may have conditions that may impede the birth of children, it is rare to see a woman causing her own childlessness. These cultural practices that still influence the attitude and (mal) treatment of women need to be denounced and abrogated. The paper finds and concludes there is a need to end these unethical treatments of childless women.

Stage IVa ovarian cancer one year following the third IVF procedure

Ovarian cancer is the second cause of gynecologic cancer death in senior women which is less common at reproductive age. We herein present an extremely rare case of a childless woman of secondary infertility diagnosed with stage IVa ovarian cancer just one year after the IVF cycle. A 37-year-old woman of secondary infertility for two years experienced three cycles of ovarian stimulation, two grade II cleavage-stage embryos transferred, did not result in pregnancy. During the IVF treatment, ovarian cyst puncture was performed and none of malignant cell observed. The following year she suffered from abdominal pain with extremely elevated tumor markers. Stage IVa ovarian carcinoma was confirmed by transabdominal operation. The patient underwent cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy. However, late-stage ovarian cancer was insensitive to postoperative chemotherapy with poor CA125 declined. The case had aroused high attention among the security of IVF including standardization and closely long-term follow-up. Continuous...

Childless Women’s Relationships with Children of Others: Narratives from Two Generations in Lithuania

A childless woman who lives in a society with pronatalist values can be in a vulnerable position. In 2006, only 1.9% of Lithuanians expressed positive attitudes about childlessness, and 84.6% valued it negatively (Stakuniene and Maslauskaite 2008), signalling the pronatalist tendency of Lithuanian society. However, some studies confirm a shift from traditional to more individualistic familial attitudes (Kanopienė et al. 2015). This chapter investigates the relationship between childless women from two generations in Lithuania and the children of these women’s relatives or friends. The analysis is based on 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted in 2017–2018 with single and coupled women between the ages of 28 and 71 who are voluntarily and involuntarily childless. The women of reproductive age were considering their intentions to have or not have children in the future, and some were going through infertility treatments; women over 50 reflected on permanent childlessness. Most of the interviewed women were involved in taking care of their siblings’ or close relatives’ children during a period in their lives, and in some cases, these women became substitute parents. Only a few women stated that they avoided contact with children in their personal lives.

Табу и эвфемизмы, связанные с рождением ребенка, в башкирском языке

Introduction. This article examines the use of taboos and euphemisms in birth-related vocabulary of the Bashkir language. Goals. The paper reveals both linguistic facts and those of traditional ritual culture, ethnic worldviews. The Bashkir birth-related taboo vocabulary has not been a subject of special research yet. Materials and Methods. Actual meanings of lexemes were identified through the use of author’s field materials collected during comprehensive expeditions (2004 to 2008), lexical and phraseological data from dictionaries of the Bashkir and other Turkic languages, dialectal materials stored by the Institute of History, Language and Literature (Ufa Federal Research Centre of the RAS). The work employs a number of linguistic research methods, such as the ethnolinguistic and comparative-descriptive ones, component analysis method, and that of lexicographic selection. Results. As is known, this group of words is mainly tabooed in the Bashkir language. The vocabulary associated with birth rites is sacred and reflects a complex set of ideas about a pregnant woman. Ritual actions, magical prohibitions are aimed at protecting the health of women and at the birth of a healthy offspring. In this case, the vocabulary denoting a childless woman, a pregnant woman and the concepts of ‘childbirth’ and ‘obstetric aid’ were tabooed. The paper clarifies that the concepts associated with birth rites in the Bashkir language are expressed by euphemisms to protect the mother and child from evil spirits and the evil eye. The author has recorded a large number of euphemisms denoting a pregnant woman (auyrly, auyrғakalyu, auyrayҡly, auyry bar, auyrkүtүreә, auyrlau, yөklө, etc), a childless woman (balakүrmәgәn, biҙәү, tүlһeҙ, ҡyҫır, irғoraҡ and others), and those denoting the concept of ‘childbirth’ (bala tabyu, kureneү, bәpeslәү, bәpәilәү, ҡotolou, bushanyu, donyaғa keileү, etc.). Taboos and euphemisms of birth rites play an important role in the development of the vocabulary of the Bashkir language. The available materials on this topic require further systematization with the involvement of linguistic analysis. Over time, many archaisms disappeared from the modern vocabulary, while others have been used only in certain dialects of the Bashkirs. Almost all euphemistic vocabulary is represented by word combinations from common Turkic lexemes used in figurative meanings. The latter reflect the ethnic ritual traditions, good manners, politeness, observance of the rules of decency ― rules of ethics. They represent the speech etiquette and identity of the Bashkir people, being a valuable linguistic and cultural source for the study of the traditional folk beliefs of the Bashkirs.

The Motherhood Pension Gap in a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme—the Case of Poland

A gender gap in pensions has recently been discussed in the context of non-discrimination and the sustainability of pension systems. Such systems in Europe are evolving towards strengthening the role of individual contributions from periods of paid work. Among other factors, the women’s pension gap is affected by interruptions in employment arising from care responsibilities. The purpose of this article is to measure the pension gap associated with having children in defined contribution pension systems. Using financial mathematics, the retirement capital of a childless woman (without breaks in work) was determined and compared with mothers of 1–4 children. The results indicate that the motherhood pension gap is approximately 4.5%–9.5%, 7.5%–15%, 9%–20%, and 12.5%–25% for mothers of 1, 2, 3, and 4 children, respectively. Measuring these individual gaps allows the cost of investing in children to be estimated. Significant for systemic and individual decisions is that the gap size is highest by the first and the second child, however the decision about the third child—relevant to the demography as ensuring the generational replacement—means the whole pension gap could rise to 20%. This could help support a policy of counteracting adverse demographic trends in fertility rates through the building of socially sustainable pensions schemes. In terms of future research, it forms the basis for building a gap measurement model that takes into account various drivers of the gender gap.

“Not So Denatured as to Kill Her Child”

Chapter Three moves to the Illinois Country (Upper Louisiana) in 1748 and explores the contentious relationship between two enslaved women: Marie-Jeanne, a pregnant woman of African descent accused of infanticide after going into labor, and Lisette, a young Indian girl. The chapter explores French views of motherhood, and of enslaved Africans as parents, but also enslaved women’s particular vulnerability to sexual abuse from French men both in the French Atlantic and Indian Oceans (especially Mauritius). Marie-Jeanne and Lisette’s court appearance, in Kaskaskia and then in New Orleans where Marie-Jeanne was sent to be tried, afforded them the possibility of narrating their own stories of loss, and, in the fissures between the lines of questioning and their answers, the childless woman and the motherless child interspersed references to work roles, conflicts over authority, and their conceptions of motherhood.

8. The Management of Infertility and Childlessness

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of managing infertility and childlessness. It addresses the control of assisted reproduction in the UK; insemination; the infertile or childless woman; and surrogate motherhood.