British Pakistani Moslems, infertility and the new reproductive technologies
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Anthropology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Blell M
(2018)
British Pakistani Muslim Masculinity, (In)fertility, and the Clinical Encounter.
in Medical anthropology
Hampshire K
(2012)
The interview as narrative ethnography: seeking and shaping connections in qualitative research
in International Journal of Social Research Methodology
Hampshire K
(2011)
Navigating New Socio-Demographic Landscapes: Using Anthropological Demography to Understand the 'Persistence' of High and Early Fertility Among British Pakistanis
in European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie
Hampshire KR
(2012)
'Everybody is moving on': infertility, relationality and the aesthetics of family among British-Pakistani Muslims.
in Social science & medicine (1982)
Mwenza Blell (Author)
(2010)
British Pakistanis and infertility : IVF, secrecy and the supernatural
Robert Simpson (Author)
(2013)
Managing potential in gamete and embryo donation : reflections on transaction
| Description | • Empirical Understanding: the project has contributed to an understanding of how infertility is situated within a wider range of experiences of family formation among Pakistani Muslim families. The research contributed to an understanding of normative family formation as well as the strategies [eg divorce, adoption and fostering] that are deployed to create the appearance of such a family. In particular, the research has provided insights into the take up of assisted reproductive technologies within this community and drawn attention to the ethical issues that are faced in relation to IVF and gamete donation. • Methods: the ethnographic approach adopted in this research was in itself novel for this field of research and the project broke new ground in two areas 1) team interviewing and the idea of the ethnographic interview and 2) a contribution to the emergent field of anthropological demography. • Theory: a contribution to understanding of 1) the causes and effects of demographic change within the UK Pakistani Muslim community and 2) the ways in which new reproductive technologies and transactions in embryos and gametes raise questions of identity, exchange, kinship and the meaning altruism in ethnic minority contexts. • Application: dialogue with clinicians and practitioners working extensively with ethnic minority groups in the UK has resulted in reflection on practice where diversity issues exist. The PI was able to contribute knowledge generated within this project directly into a national working party established to consider the ethics of human tissue donation [Nuffield Council on Bioethics]. |
| Exploitation Route | the data base [in published and archived form] will enable others to make an future contributions to the emerging picture of how ethnic minorities in the UK manage infertility in the 21st century. |
| Sectors | Healthcare |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/asian.infertilities/ |
| Title | Pakistani Muslims and infertility |
| Description | Data set comprising Phase I interviewee demographic data [numbers of children, gender, sequence, birth spacing] |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | n/a |
| Description | British Pakistani Muslims' attitudes and responses to infertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A poster submitted to a University-wide competition aimed at promoting public understanding of science in the wider community. The posters were judged by the author Bill Bryson [at that time Vice Chancellor]. awareness was raised regarding the particular issues raised by ARTs for Pakistani Muslims |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/asian.infertilities/ |
| Description | British Pakistanis and (in)fertilities on Teesside |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have the highest fertility rates currently in the UK, reflecting strongly pro-natalist values. However, perhaps because of the normative pressures to bear children, it has been argued that the social impact of infertility is heightened. The British Pakistani population thus typify a paradox referred to by Inhorn (1996; 2007:184) as the 'fertility infertility dialectic', that is, a situation in which the practices that lead to high fertility are closely linked to those which make infertility problematic. This paper explores data from participant observation and in-depth interviews with British Pakistani men and women from a wide range of ages and marital and reproductive statuses (fertile, subfertile, and infertile) from Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough. Discussions of fertility, infertility, adoption and new reproductive technologies bring out complex relationships between issues of identity and ethnicity; marriage and the family; transnationalism; secularisation and the assertion of traditional values; and relations between science and religion. talk raised awareness regarding issues of infertility and how these might be addressed among local pakistani groups by using ARTs |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/asian.infertilities/ |
| Description | The gift of the gift of life : rhetorics of potentiality in embryo and gamete donation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Paper read at the deprtmental senior seminar series stimulated discussion amongst colleagues, post grads and undergrads |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2012 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/asian.infertilities/ |
| Description | Transnational (in)fertilities : the search for a child among British Pakistanis living in Teesside |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | A presentation exploring marriage, mobility and well being among British Pakistani youth based on data collected as part of an ESRC study into family formation and (in)fertility among Pakistanis on Teesside. raised awareness of the fertility issues among pakistani muslims on Teesside |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/asian.infertilities/ |