Parenthood and Partnerhood in the Context of Involuntary Childlessness and Assisted Reproduction in Greece

Aglaia Chatjouli, Ivi Daskalaki and Venetia Kantsa

Sociological Research Online, 2017, vol. 22, issue 2, 79-95

Abstract: Ta en oiko mi en dimo is a popular Greek proverb meaning that whatever happens at household [ oikos ] should not be exposed into public [ dimos ]. In the Greek cultural context sexuality, reproduction, family relations belong to the realm of private domesticity. In this paper we trace the way women and men in Greece resituate themselves towards their reproductive desires and decisions, towards medicalized reproduction and towards each other, when in the context of involuntary childlessness, infertility and ART use, reproduction moves outside the body and the private sphere of the household and becomes part of the public sphere exemplified in state laws, doctor's decisions, hospital laboratories, IVF forums. Drawing from the research project (In)FERCIT and based on 130 semi-structured interviews of both women and men the paper explores the shifts related to parenting, the imagining and making of a family, the couple, in the context of neoliberal reproductive potentialities. Which relationships and practices change through the ongoing challenges of infertility and the experience of ART? What is kept within the couple and what is shared with others (family members, friends, strangers, experts)? What is the significance of reproductive socialities in managing the demands of infertility within an ever-increasing intensification of parenthood? How does this challenging context reinforces or weakens the couple's relationship, their reproductive agency and desire? Finally we explore how proper parenthood but also proper partnerhood are constructed in Greece following local demands regarding family making and localized medicalization of reproduction.

Keywords: Assisted Reproduction Technologies; Infertility; Parenthood; Motherhood; Couple; Family-Making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.4207 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:22:y:2017:i:2:p:79-95

DOI: 10.5153/sro.4207

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Research Online
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().