Misconception : : Social Class and Infertility in America / / Ann V. Bell.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Rutgers University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Bell, Ann V.,
• Place / Publishing House: New Brunswick, NJ : : Rutgers University Press, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Families in Focus
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (192 p.)

Despite the fact that, statistically, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) experience greater difficulty conceiving children, infertility is generally understood to be a wealthy, white woman's issue. In Misconception, Ann V. Bell overturns such historically ingrained notions of infertility by examining the experiences of poor women and women of color. These women, so the stereotype would have it, are simply too fertile. The fertility of affluent and of poor women is perceived differently, and these perceptions have political and social consequences, as social policies have entrenched these ideas throughout U.S. history. Through fifty-eight in-depth interviews with women of both high and low SES, Bell begins to break down the stereotypes of infertility and show how such depictions consequently shape women's infertility experiences. Prior studies have relied solely on participants recruited from medical clinics-a sampling process that inherently skews the participant base toward wealthier white women with health insurance. In comparing class experiences, Misconception goes beyond examining medical experiences of infertility to expose the often overlooked economic and classist underpinnings of reproduction, family, motherhood, and health in contemporary America. Watch a video with Ann V. Bell: Watch video now. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz7qiPyuyiM).

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Conceiving Infertility -- 1. "That'S What I'M Supposed To Be": Why Women Want To Mother -- 2. "I'M Good At The Job": How Women Achieve "Good" Motherhood -- 3. "Getting Pregnant'S A Piece Of Cake": Trying To Mother -- 4. "Socioeconomically It Would Be Much More Difficult":The Lived Experience Of Infertility -- 5. "Whatever Gets Me To The End Point": Resolving Infertility -- 6. "So What Can You Do?": Coping With Infertility -- Conclusion: (Re)Conceiving Infertility -- Appendix: Methodology -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About The Author