Main description:

Managing social relationships for childless couples in pro-natalist societies can be a difficult art to master, and may even become an issue of belonging for both men and women. With ethnographic research gathered from two IVF clinics and in two villages in northwestern Turkey, this book explores infertility and assisted reproductive technologies within a secular Muslim population. Goeknar investigates the experience of infertility through various perspectives, such as the importance of having a child for women, the mediating role of religion, the power dynamics in same-gender relationships, and the impact of manhood ideologies on the decision for - or against - having IVF.

Contents:

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Desire to Have a Child

Chapter 2. Religion as Discourse and Practice

Chapter 3. Childlessness among Kin and Friends

Chapter 4. Manhood Ideologies and IVF

Chapter 5. Achievement and Procreation

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index