In Front of the Mirror of Social Expectations: Experiences of Women Until They Are Given a Diagnosis of Infertility

Abstract

The aim of this article is to overview women’s experiences in view of social expectations about having children. Such expectations are frequently implied in questions about procreation plans. Since the procreative experience was considered by the author as a process, it was possible to recon­struct changes in the meaning that the researched women ascribed to such questions at different stag­es of this experience, i.e. from the period prior to trying for a child, through the initial stage of trying to conceive, to the diagnostic stage until being given a diagnosis of infertility. At the stage prior to try­ing for a child, standing in front of the mirror of social expectations, the women saw themselves in the role of future mothers. At the initial stage of trying to conceive, seeing themselves in the mirror, the interviewed women saw themselves as pregnant women in near future. At the diagnostic stage until being given a diagnosis of infertility, the women saw only their uncertain future, i.e. themselves who wanted to have children very much, but were no longer certain whether they would become mothers.

Keywords

• primary infertility
• social expectations
• motherhood