Infertility as a Gendered Social Experience in Italy (Lombardy): Sense of Self and Modality of Action

Abstract

Examining infertility through the prism of gender allows a more refined understanding of what infertility does to persons. Draw on the research conducted in a public centre for assisted reproduction in Italy, this chapter will show how the diagnosis of infertility fits into a medical description which is differentiated according to gender. By analyzing the way in which infertility is described and constructed in the course of consultations, we will see how infertility is understood both as a modality of relationship and action and as a property of persons.

Citation

Linconstant, L. (2022), "Infertility as a Gendered Social Experience in Italy (Lombardy): Sense of Self and Modality of Action", Guerzoni, C.S. and Mattalucci, C. (Ed.) Reproductive Governance and Bodily Materiality (Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-438-020221014