‘God helps those who help themselves’… religion and Assisted Reproductive Technology usage amongst urban Ghanaians

Abstract

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) is increasingly becoming a viable option for infertile couples in Ghana. There exists significant literature that explores the gender, legal, religious and socio-cultural implications of ART usage. In this paper, we expand the discourse on the nexus between religion and ART usage by looking at how the former is used as a frame of reference in the decision-making process, as well as how it is employed to explain treatment successes and failures. Irrespective of religious orientation, there was a general acceptance of ART by participants in the study-with exceptions only when it came to some aspects of the procedure. Even here, participants’ desperate desire to have children, tended to engender some accommodation of procedures they were uncomfortable with because of their religious beliefs. Thus, in contrast to some studies that suggest religion as interfering with ART use, we posit that religion is not an inhibiting factor to ART usage. On the contrary, it is an enabling factor, engendering the agentic attitude of participants to find a solution to their infertility in ART; as well as providing the strength to endure the physical and emotional discomfort associated with the biomedical process of conception and childbirth. In this context, religion thus provides participants with a frame of reference to navigate the spaces between decision-making, treatment processes and outcomes, and attributions of responsibility for the outcomes whatever they may be.