Representations of Reproductive Technology in Women's Narratives of Infertility

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the ways in which the notion of reproductive technology is represented in the narratives of infertility told by a sample of Australian women. These narratives suggest that reproductive technology has been configured as the alternative instrument in realising the quest for a child. Because reproductive technology was represented in complex and changing ways in the narratives of individual women, it would have been inappropriate to divide the women into two groups as users and non-users of reproductive technology. The women were consulted at each stage of the research to ensure that what was inferred from their stories remained true to their narrative construction of themselves.

KEYWORDS:

• Narrative
• reproductive technology
• women
• infertility