Women involved in assisted reproductive treatments: a qualitative study in the medical context / Mujeres castellano-manchegas y reproducción asistida: un estudio cualitativo desde el ámbito sanitario

Abstract

This research emerges from the necessity of facing health problems in a holistic way, able to capture the subjects’ perspective about their situation and context, and the way they are perceived and understood. This paper presents the qualitative research we have developed about women living in Castilla-La Mancha who start or are already involved in Assisted Reproductive Treatments (ART). The implementation and analysis of discussion groups provide a rich understanding of these women’s perceptions and representations about a series of dimensions that structure their own self-concept, their relations and their experience of a process which can provide or frustrate a whole vital project. In this context, where social, cultural, symbolic and biomedical aspects are involved, the cooperative work of social scientists and healthcare professionals can contribute to the advancement of both fields of knowledge, and to their mutual integration.

Keywords

• Qualitative research
• assisted reproductive treatments
• maternity
• fertility
• sociology of health