Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Sep;75(5):883-91. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.04.020. Epub 2012 May 17.
Prior research emphasizes women's distress and responsibility for a couple's infertility because of gendered, pronatalist norms. Yet some studies suggest that being personally diagnosed and/or undergoing treatment differentially shapes reactions. We focused on differences in women's experiences with diagnosis and treatment, conceptualized as the medicalized embodiment of infertility. Using regression analysis, we examined two psychosocial outcomes (self-identification as infertile and fertility-specific distress) in a sample of 496 heterosexual, U.S. women from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Medicalized embodiment was salient to women's reactions, but had different relationships to self-identification versus distress. Although women experienced distress regardless of type of diagnosis, they were generally less likely to self-identify as infertile unless personally diagnosed. As such, we cannot assume that all women universally experience infertility. Future research should also address self-identification and distress as separate as opposed to simultaneous psychosocial outcomes.
先前的研究强调了女性在夫妻不孕问题上的痛苦和责任，这是由于性别和生育规范的影响。然而，一些研究表明，个人被诊断出不孕以及/或者接受治疗的方式会对反应产生不同的影响。我们关注的是女性在诊断和治疗方面的经历差异，将其概念化为不孕的医学化体现。我们使用回归分析，在来自美国全国生育障碍调查的 496 名异性恋女性样本中，研究了两个心理社会结果（自我认定为不孕和与生育相关的困扰）。医学化的体现对女性的反应很重要，但与自我认定和困扰的关系不同。尽管女性无论接受哪种类型的诊断都会感到困扰，但除非个人被诊断出不孕，否则她们通常不太可能自我认定为不孕。因此，我们不能假设所有女性都普遍经历不孕。未来的研究还应将自我认定和困扰作为独立的心理社会结果，而不是同时考虑。
