Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Rawan Al-Asaad - Despite our belief in fate and fate, and our full awareness that the issue of infertility, whether on the part of women or men, is a pathological condition, societal acceptance has a funny and crying equation. Is it because of a stereotype that has been planted in the minds since eternity and became a reality and reality; It is as if it is a sacred constitution that gives the husband the right to abandon his wife and grants society the status of an executioner for a woman who cannot bear children like other women, to increase her psychological suffering exponentially. Why does a woman bear the greatest degree of responsibility in the event of her inability to bear children? "Al-Quds" discussed the issue with the researcher in the field of social and human sciences, Abdulaziz Al-Salihi.

First of all, researcher Abdulaziz Al-Salhi says: We all agree that infertility is a disease that affects both males and females, and the World Health Organization has defined it as “the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of committed sexual intercourse without means of protection.” Therefore, we agree that this disease affects Both sexes, and the estimates of the World Health Organization indicate that there are 48 million couples and 186 million infertile individuals in the world, and it is possible that infertility is primary and secondary, and this is a very important issue that we must point out, as primary infertility means that pregnancy does not occur at all during the marriage period and has Social dimensions are harsher and stronger than secondary infertility that occurs at a later stage, and there is pregnancy and childbirth at least once during the marriage stage.

The inferior status of women who are unable to bear children

He continued: It is very important to point out that this phenomenon is not associated with Arab local communities only, as is common from a stereotype. If we search in quantitative and qualitative studies and literature, we find dozens of studies that talk about stigmatizing women as a result of infertility in all countries of the world, although For example, in the United States, one out of every six couples suffers from infertility or problems related to reproduction, which is accompanied by a stigma attached to females in particular, but the paradox lies in the scale that researchers use to determine the stigma and the extent of its impact. Here, standards differ from society to society.

How does the social stigmatization process take place and why does it occur and leave behind social dimensions?

Al-Salihi says: When looking at the issue of childlessness and its social dimensions with a sociological eye (from the perspective of sociology), it is necessary to return to family sociology, which is the science that studies the social roots of the family, the impact of society, the social structure and its relationship with the family, and is concerned with studying everything related to the family in terms of structure and functions. And internal and kinship relations and social and economic systems. The sociology of the family proposes that in order to properly understand the family, we must understand the functions that relate to the family within society, its natural structural and functional functions. From here, we can understand the inability to have children "infertility" sociologically in terms of its location in this system, i.e. the building system, specifically in functions In the sense that there is a functional role associated with the issue of procreation in society, which reflects the social dimensions and accompanies them in parallel, and in more detail, the structural dimension of childbearing and infertility is accompanied by cultural dimensions that exist mainly in the cultural heritage, therefore structurally everything that comes in the cultural heritage has a functional analysis, On the sociological level, the role of childbearing is important, hence the stigma associated with childlessness.

Society's view of social roles

In this context, Al-Salihi says: We must understand how society views the social roles of individuals in their societies, in order to understand where the stigma comes from. It is said that the more society tends towards functional division, the less severe sterility as a social stigma will be, because the roles related to individuals appear in other locations and manifestations. different from procreation, so the focus becomes in complex societies in which the division of roles is high over other roles; For example, is she a successful doctor? Is her social status high? This makes the issue of childbearing or whether it is not linked in the functional criteria to the role of women, and here the stigma is less, unlike societies in which “childbearing” is considered one of the most prominent roles associated with women in the social imagination, so the composition of stigma is higher and she feels herself in her in a higher way.

The phenomenon of infertility from the perspective of sociology

He says: As we mentioned previously, sociology, if we want to understand matters from the perspective of sociology, we must first understand the relationship of the family to society, its role and functions, and how infertility is a concept opposite to the basic function in establishing the family, which is “procreation.” This is an introduction to deducing the social status of the family, as it is the basic building block Society, which is a general phenomenon in all societies despite the different forms of families in different societies, and it is an essential feature that affects and is affected by all systems within society. Hence, it can be said that the difference from the rules of society and the absence of elements that fill the functional factors may bring stigma, not in the sense that difference means Stigma, but how does society view it? If the family structure within the society proceeds based on the prevailing social system in it and performs its function by procreation, reproduction, and the establishment of a family in the socially agreed manner, a kind of stigma occurs in the event that this is violated, and it is an entrance to understanding the phenomenon of infertility and its social and cultural dimensions. And its reasons.

Why do women take an inferior position when they are unable to have children?

Al-Salihi answers, saying: Women take a more inferior position than men and they are the victims, but to be frankly fair within society, both the male and the female become inferior when the issue relates to infertility, meaning that the barren male becomes inferior in his place as the female, and what some people do not understand is that the patriarchal system fell on males In many cases, it is completely omnipotent, as it is on females.

He continued: This is due to the social imagination and its broad and complex sociological concept, as it defines for individuals preconceived ideas about their roles within society and where they should be. The imagination is the fertile soil through which we inherited and imbibed all these ideas, so yes, the social imagination is directly linked to the woman because she takes care of children and bears, and automatically the assumption becomes that the problem exists with her, and this has existed since time immemorial, as the woman was a symbol of fertility in the ancient gods and she was the one who She rules matrilineal societies because she is the one who gives birth. So the issue is historically in the social imagination.

And he continued: In contrast to the space available to both males and females as well, the masculine society has special criteria for success in the family that are related to the male, and these criteria are completely different from those of the female, meaning that the criteria for success for spouses is that the man is able to collect sufficient income according to societal standards and accomplish material achievements. More, such as owning a house, a vehicle, and a prestigious position, and these roles are related to the male, and if he gets them, according to the social imagination, he has approached the ideal, and there is no problem for him, and the space he has to cover up the issue of childlessness is greater, unlike the female who does not get imaginative opportunities Association.

These paradoxes are certainly related to the psychological and social repercussions on women, and most of the negative feelings resulting from infertility are directly related to stigma. A case different from the individuals present and involved in their surroundings, so it is very important to understand that in all societies of the world there is stigma for sterile women, but the question is how is it practiced on them? Here, a difference can be made in the appearances and formations of stigma, whether it was practiced verbally or treated with inferiority, and it must be noted whether these feelings are individual or not. Direct on self-esteem and self-confidence which goes along with this issue.

Is awareness the only solution?

Regarding solutions, he says: Sociologically, I can talk about the roles of society’s institutions in this issue, especially raising awareness in digesting, assimilating, and presenting the concept of “infertility” to individuals in society. Governance, and this may be completely absent from policies according to what countries see as priorities, unless these policies are related to scientific research and increasing infertility treatment centers in some cases, and this is another issue. On another level, which is the level of society as a society by changing the rule, which is completely educational and there is no way to work on it other than awareness, and here is the role of the basic institutions, specifically in the university, as students can be made aware of the concepts of reproductive health and others, and by talking about the phenomenon of infertility within society, there is an understanding It is greater, especially when you play the role-playing game at the university stage, in the sense that you present the phenomenon and put it in its place, developing different feelings instead of judging the phenomenon from afar.

The second role is the role of health centers, some of which may deal with the patient as if she is taking a physiological treatment for infertility without taking into account the psychological and social dimensions, as it must be taken into account that all organic diseases, specifically diseases related to infertility and symbols of femininity and masculinity, are accompanied by negative dimensions on the psychological level, and therefore There must be a focus on mental health care for patients, awareness and psychological support, and not be limited to physical physiological treatment. Here the government intervenes by allocating programs in hospitals and medical centers, and our only way out is awareness and we count on awareness.

Finally, and as an introduction to the issue of alleviating the psychological pain and social suffering resulting from infertility on females and males in society, it is necessary to review the legislation related to incubation at the community level, as some of them make the incubation steps much more difficult for those who are unable to have children as a result of infertility. Ministers No. (10) of 2013 in the Foster Families Regulation of 2013 AD and in Article (8) of the law, it states that “priority in fostering a child is given to:” 1. The family residing in the Palestinian Territories 2. The family with the appropriate educational, cultural and social level 3. Cases of sterility of one or both of the spouses and their marriage has passed for ten years. This prompts us to question whether the legislation actually facilitates the process of incubation or places some obstacles in front of it, as the extent of The appropriateness of specifying the period of marriage of the spouses to ten years, and if this requirement really hinders children’s access to the right to care, and does not take into account disadvantaged families who are unable to have children.In addition, the idea that priority should be given to families with an appropriate educational, cultural and social level must be reviewed, as it is proposed The phrase questions about normativity in such a proposition, and the fear of depriving the “less fortunate” of that.