In Thailand, infertility remains a source of stigma for those couples that combine a range of religious, traditional and high-tech interventions in their quest for a child. This book explores this experience of infertility and the pursuit and use of assisted reproductive technologies by Thai couples. Though using assisted reproductive technologies is becoming more acceptable in Thai society, access to and choices about such technologies are mediated by differences in class position. These stories of women and men in private and public infertility clinics reveal how local social and moral sensitivities influence the practices and meanings of treatment.…mehr
In Thailand, infertility remains a source of stigma for those couples that combine a range of religious, traditional and high-tech interventions in their quest for a child. This book explores this experience of infertility and the pursuit and use of assisted reproductive technologies by Thai couples. Though using assisted reproductive technologies is becoming more acceptable in Thai society, access to and choices about such technologies are mediated by differences in class position. These stories of women and men in private and public infertility clinics reveal how local social and moral sensitivities influence the practices and meanings of treatment.
Andrea Whittaker is an ARC Future Fellow and Convenor of Anthropology at Monash University. She is a medical anthropologist whose most recent publications include Abortion, Sin and the State in Thailand (2004) and Abortion in Asia: Local dilemmas, global politics (ed., Berghahn Books 2010).
Inhaltsangabe
Preface Acknowledgments Notes on Language and Transliteration Abbreviations Introduction: Culture Mediums Chapter 1. The Birth of IVF in Thailand Chapter 2. Incompleteness Chapter 3. Begging for Babies Chapter 4. Engaging Technologies Chapter 5. The Clinical Ensemble Chapter 6. Patriarchal Bargains Chapter 7. 'Love Clinic': Cyber-sociality Chapter 8. 'Technology that gives men hope' Chapter 9. Carrying the Merit Conclusion Appendix Glossary References Index