The End of the Dance – Treatment cessation in assisted reproductive technology treatment
Liz Sutton1, Monash University Clayton 1Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Abstract
It is assumed in pronatalist societies such as Australia that women generally want to become mothers. When this is not possible because of infertility (either medical or social), Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) can address these issues. As such, ART is culturally intertwined with the assumption that almost all women wish to become mothers. When ART fails women wonder what is wrong with them – as women. Firstly, because they had to use the treatment, and secondly because in spite of using the technology available, their body still did not perform. Their sense of failure as a woman at doing the most basic of things – reproduction – is thus compounded. Therefore, women can be very reticent to cease treatment. As part of an NHMRC funded project, we interviewed 25 women who had either contemplated, begun, undergone or had ceased ART. We asked them about their experience of using or ceasing ART treatment. Themes emerged from interviews – including the setting of expectation’s at outset of treatment; the balancing act needed by patients in relation to the cost of treatment versus their desire to be a parent; how pregnancy is regarded as an achievement even when no child is born, the emotional cost of undergoing ART; and the identity work that people undergoing ART do to reconcile their behaviour with the need to become parents. This renders the cessation of ART a complex decision and one which demands ethical work which must be done by practitioners ensuring that they act in patients’ best interest
Biography
Liz Sutton is a medical anthropologist (completed 2019) with training as a general nurse and 25 years experience in healthcare policy and practice. She is the Director of Research at the Central Adelaide Healthcare Network. Follow Liz on Twitter at lizsutton@believemeithurt as she tackles the hazards of ‘normal birth’ ideology.