African Women and the Shame and Pain of Infertility PDF Download

Author: Damasus C. Okoro
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725265702
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
In African Women and the Shame and Pain of Infertility: An Ethico-Cultural Study of Christian Response to Childlessness among the Igbo People of West Africa, Okoro discusses the shipwreck that is associated with infertility in marriage in Africa. Within this space, childlessness places a big question mark on a woman’s femininity and the self-esteem of the man. The stigma of infertility most often leads to social isolation and humiliation, particularly of married women, even when the source of infertility may not have come from them. Unfortunately, this situation goes against the highly valued Igbo ethical principle of onye aghala nwanne ya, meaning “no kith or kin should be left behind.” Therefore, the purpose of the book is to help married people in Igbo land and Africa at large to appropriate this indigenous principle in their response to the problem of infertility. To attain this, the author critically evaluates discrimination and oppression of infertile couples, particularly women, and shedding light on the paradoxes found in Igbo cultural expressions. He employs a constructive, ethical, cultural, religious, contextual, and theological approach that explores important Igbo religious paradigms like Chi (an Igbo religio-cultural understanding of personal destiny) and Ani (the feminine deity in-charge of the land and fertility) to argue the case for the liberation and integration of infertile couples.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309048974
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This examination of changes in adolescent fertility emphasizes the changing social context within which adolescent childbearing takes place.

Author: Marcia Claire Inhorn
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520231085
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
These essays examine the global impact of infertility as a major reproductive health issue, one that has profoundly affected the lives of countless women and men. The contributors address a range of topics including how the deeply gendered nature of infertility sets the blame on women's shoulders.

Author: Jess Connolly
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310352509
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
You were made for more than a love/hate relationship with your body. It's one thing to know in your head that you were created in the image of God. Yet it's quite another to experience this belief in your body, against the cultural ideals of a woman's worth. And between the two lies a world of frustration, disappointment, and the shame of somehow feeling both too much and never enough in your body. Jess Connolly is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker, and trusted Bible teacher who knows this inner conflict all too well, and this book details her journey--and yours--of setting out to discover how to break free from the broken beliefs we all hold about our bodies that hold us back from our fullest life. The truest thing about you is that you are made and loved by God. And the truest thing about Him is that He cannot make bad things. This book will help you believe it with your whole self, as Jess guides you through an eye-opening, empowering process of: Renaming what the world has labeled as less-than Resting in God's workmanship Experiencing restoration where there has been injury And becoming a change agent in partnering with God to bring revival to a generation of women Far from a superficial issue, self-image is a spiritual issue, because God has named your body good from the beginning. Whether your struggle is with eating and exercise habits, stress or trauma, infertility or injury, this book makes space for you to experience God meeting you in this tender place, and ring His freedom bell over your body in a whole new way.

Author: Nicole M. Roccas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781944967697
Category : Human reproductive technology
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Infertility ranks among the hardest griefs a couple can face. Yet this painful issue is all too often neglected in both Church and society. Under the Laurel Tree traces one God-fearing couple's journey through the emotional turmoil of childlessness. By following the story of Saints Joachim and Anna, this book helps individuals and couples navigate the loss inherent in infertility amid the pain of shame, separation, anger, bargaining, and blamelessness. In walking alongside Joachim and Anna, we encounter not only a life-giving template for grief, but also the path back to ourselves, our partner, and our God-given vocation of eucharistic thanksgiving.

Author: Marcia C. Inhorn
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812215281
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
In Quest for Conception, Marcia C. Inhorn portrays the poignant struggles of poor, urban Egyptian women and their attempts to overcome infertility. The author draws upon fifteen months of fieldwork in urban Egypt to present moving stories of infertile Muslim women whose tumultuous medical pilgrimages have yet to produce the desired pregnancies. Inhorn examines the devastating impact of infertility on the lives of these women, who are threatened with divorce by their husbands, harassed by their husbands' families, and ostracized by neighbors.

Author: Anne-Marie Scully
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781494291167
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Born in 1981, shortly after the first IVF baby, Anne-Marie Scully grew up in a world where infertility is a problem everyone assumes can be fixed. Named for the frustration Anne-Marie felt when realizing that becoming a mother was not a given and that IVF was not a guaranteed 'Plan B', Motherhoodwinked documents the pain and the shame of life as an infertile woman. But Motherhoodwinked is more than just another trying to conceive memoir, it is an important social commentary on the impact infertility has on the lives of those going through it and how the modern digital age has both helped and hindered the journey. With heartbreaking honesty Anne-Marie takes us on a journey from her initial optimism and excitement at finally trying for a baby and fulfilling her lifelong dream to become a mother, through to her increasingly complex pregnancy plan, her experiments with holistic therapies, the NaPro program and finally her experience with ICSI and IVF. Sometimes sad, sometimes laugh out loud funny Motherhoodwinked offers both couples going through infertility and their support networks coping skills for how to survive this lonely journey, that actually affects one in six couples.

Author: Belle Boggs
Publisher: Graywolf Press
ISBN: 1555979459
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
A brilliant exploration of the natural, medical, psychological, and political facets of fertility When Belle Boggs's "The Art of Waiting" was published in Orion in 2012, it went viral, leading to republication in Harper's Magazine, an interview on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, and a spot at the intersection of "highbrow" and "brilliant" in New York magazine's "Approval Matrix." In that heartbreaking essay, Boggs eloquently recounts her realization that she might never be able to conceive. She searches the apparently fertile world around her--the emergence of thirteen-year cicadas, the birth of eaglets near her rural home, and an unusual gorilla pregnancy at a local zoo--for signs that she is not alone. Boggs also explores other aspects of fertility and infertility: the way longing for a child plays out in the classic Coen brothers film Raising Arizona; the depiction of childlessness in literature, from Macbeth to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; the financial and legal complications that accompany alternative means of family making; the private and public expressions of iconic writers grappling with motherhood and fertility. She reports, with great empathy, complex stories of couples who adopted domestically and from overseas, LGBT couples considering assisted reproduction and surrogacy, and women and men reflecting on childless or child-free lives. In The Art of Waiting, Boggs deftly distills her time of waiting into an expansive contemplation of fertility, choice, and the many possible roads to making a life and making a family.

Author: Manuela Simoni
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319444406
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 1364

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of endocrinology of the male reproductive system, explaining how it works and how, sometimes, it fails to work. World-class specialists present state of the art knowledge on all aspects, including anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations of testicular diseases, endocrine aspects of andrological and sexual diseases, and therapy. Extensive consideration is given to sexual development, testicular function, the clinical approach to disorders of male reproduction, male hypogonadism, sexual dysfunction, and male infertility. In addition, sociodemographic, psychological, and ethical aspects of male reproductive disorders are discussed. The book is intended as a major reference for endocrinologists, andrologists, and sexologists, as well as basic and clinical scientists. It is published as part of the SpringerReference program, which delivers access to living editions constantly updated through a dynamic peer-review publishing process.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309174996
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancies, infertility, and other reproductive problems are a growing concern around the world, especially in developing countries. Reproductive Health in Developing Countries describes the magnitude of these problems and what is known about the effectiveness of interventions in the following areas: Infection-free sex. Immediate priorities for combating sexually transmitted and reproductive tract diseases are identified. Intended pregnancies and births. The panel reports on the state of family planning and ways to provide services. Healthy pregnancy and delivery. The book explores the myths and substantive socio-economic problems that underlie maternal deaths. Healthy sexuality. Such issues as sexual violence and the practice of female genital mutilation are discussed in terms of the cultural contexts in which they occur. Addressing the design and delivery of reproductive health services, this volume presents lessons learned from past programs and offers principles for deciding how to spend limited available funds. Reproductive Health in Developing Countries will be of special interest to policymakers, health care professionals, and researchers working on reproductive issues in the developing world.