The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Eager for medicalisation: the social production of infertility as a disease
Abstract
The social and cultural basis of medicalisation is explored through an examination of infertility, a social condition that has recently been recast as a disease. Infertility illustrates a basic dilemma of medicalisation: the health care system reflects the same value system at work throughout society. Placing social problems within a biomedical framework does not provide a satisfactory solution for conditions that deviate from cultural norms because those norms are replicated in biomedical ideologies about the nature and treatment of disease. We examine three phases of this dilemma through an analysis of data collected in in‐depth interviews with 43 American couples who were undergoing infertility treatment: 1) the disparity between initial expectations about ease and speed of treatment and its actual complexity, 2) the confrontation with medical definitions of abnormality, and 3) the cumulative effects of treatment, in which emotional exhaustion from infertility treatment vies with the continuing need to ‘fix’ the infertility and produce a pregnancy. We conclude that individuals' efforts to eradicate feelings of abnormality for their childlessness by lending medical legitimacy to their failure to conceive are undermined by entering a medical system in which concepts of disease and abnormality are implicit.
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In the citing paper
“Emotional exhaustion and burnout have also been reported as a common feature of infertility, resulting from the chronic exposure to the emotional ups and downs of infertility.26 29”
From Infertility-related distress and clinical targets for psychotherapy: A qualitative study (2021) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“A few studies have also reported on women’s narrowed focus on infertility to the exclusion of other activities, as well as excessive information seeking as behavioural features of anxiety.24–26”
From Infertility-related distress and clinical targets for psychotherapy: A qualitative study (2021) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“The third theme—threat to self-esteem, identity and purpose—is somewhat similar to previous reports that women’s view of themselves and their future identities are challenged by infertility, leading to feelings of role loss or role failure and the development of a negative self-perception.6 26 27”
From Infertility-related distress and clinical targets for psychotherapy: A qualitative study (2021) · cites this paper as [26]
Citations
Cites
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Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America
Numbers, R. L., Wertz, R. W., & Wertz, D. C. (1978) · Journal of American History · doi:10.2307/1901434 · Cited by 528
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Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Becker G., 1986, The Dilemma of Difference: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Stigma
- Friedson Eliot, 1970, Profession of Medicine
- Gilligan Carol, 1982, In A Different Voice
- Laqueur T.A., 1987, The Making of the Modern Body
- Notman M., 1980, Mid‐Life Development and Clinical Issues
- Office of Technology Assessment, US Congress, 1988, Infertility: Medical and Social Choices
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Conrad, P. (2007) · Johns Hopkins University Press eBooks · doi:10.56021/9780801885846 · Cited by 1,448
Gillespie, R. (2003) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/0891243202238982 · Cited by 356
Friese, C., Becker, G., & Nachtigall, R. D. (2006) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.03.034 · Cited by 138
Self-citationUnderstanding women's sleep management: beyond medicalization‐healthicization?
Hislop, J., & Arber, S. (2003) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1046/j.1467-9566.2003.00371.x · Cited by 131
Metaphors in Disrupted Lives: Infertility and Cultural Constructions of Continuity
Becker, G. (1994) · Medical Anthropology Quarterly · doi:10.1525/maq.1994.8.4.02a00040 · Cited by 121
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Becker, G., & Nachtigall, R. D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Venue
- Sociology of Health & Illness
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1992-12
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 456-471
- ISSN
- 0141-9889 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9566
- OpenAlex
- W2014967909
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 0.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sociology of Health & Illness (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Health and Technologies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Medicine, History, and Philosophy
- Keywords
- infertility, medicalization, social construction of illness, abnormality, childlessness, infertility treatment, emotional exhaustion, couples, pregnancy, medical legitimacy
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