AWAITING THE STORK : THE IMPLICATIONS OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY ON INVOLUNTARY CHILDLESSNESS

Abstract

In the past, prior to any medical interventions, infertility was seen as an unfortunate tragedy, from which there was no deliverance, and therefore remained as an acute, private agony that was accepted as fate. Infertile couples could therefore only either choose to remain childless, or to meet their desire to parent by becoming their nieces' and nephews' favourite aunt and uncle, or by choosing to adopt. However, the history of infertility was rewritten with the advent of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and deliverance for infertility is now available with a plethora of medical interventions. It has been noted that the demand for infertility treatments has been rising, and it is one of the purposes of this thesis to question the increased use of ART as a solution to infertility: why do couples opt for ART? And for those who have stepped into the high-tech world of ART, what are the implications? Findings support the idea that there is a compelling nature to ART. Infertile couples find it hard to reject ART with the cultural construction of reproduction, and even having opted for ART, couples found it hard to get off the treatment treadmill, and ART therefore compels its repeated use. The loss of control is clearly manifested with the continued journey on the treatment treadmill, and this has been found through this study to be one of the most salient impacts of ART. With the amazing speed at which medical interventions are spilling into the field of infertility, more social issues are spawned, especially ethical issues, and it is thus pertinent for future studies to be done in order to keep abreast with the latest developments in ART.