Understanding the Blogging Practices of Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): A Discourse Analysis of Women’s IVF Blogs

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Orr, Elizabeth Jack, Susan M. Sword, Wendy Ireland, Sandra E. Ostolosky, Lois
Copyright Year	2017
Abstract	Infertility and its associated treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), can have a profound impact on the emotional health and well-being of women desiring to become mothers. Researchers have measured the impact of infertility and described the experience of infertility and its treatment, leaving the rich descriptions of the IVF experience as captured in women's blogs to be explored. This discourse analysis describes the blogging practices of women undergoing IVF, exploring both the content and function of the IVF blog discourse. Data were collected from the text of seven women's blogs (n=1,149 blog posts) and resulted in four main functions of the discourse: creation of and connection to a community, emotional support, blogging as therapy, and creation of an IVF resource. Findings suggest that blogging can have a positive impact on the psychosocial consequences experienced by women in fertility treatment. Keywords: Discourse Analysis, Fertility/Infertility, Internet, Research Online, Research Qualitative, Blogs Childbearing and parenthood are some of the most universally desired pursuits in adult life that often, but not always, occur when planned and hoped for. For the nearly 73 million couples around the world who experience fertility problems (Boivin, Bunting, Collins, & Nygren, 2007), realization of this desire is fraught with significant challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2012) has defined infertility as a failure to conceive following 12 months of unprotected intercourse. In the United States, the estimated prevalence of infertility for women is 7.4% (Stephen & Chandra, 2006). Infertility, and the desire to have children, have led many couples to seek medical care. According to a review of 25 population-based studies from around the globe, on average 56% of couples seek medical advice for their infertility, with approximately half of those couples actually receiving medical treatment (Boivin et al., 2007). Following consultation and assessment by reproductive health specialists, the primary option for conception for many couples involves medically-assisted reproductive interventions. Medically-assisted reproductive interventions include ovulation induction; controlled ovarian stimulation; ovulation triggering; intrauterine, intracervical, and intravaginal insemination with semen of the partner or donor; and a range of assisted reproductive technologies (ART; Moreau, Bouyer, Ducot, Spira, & Slama, 2010; Zegers-Hochschild et al., 2009). Assisted reproductive technology procedures are treatments that involve the in vitro handling of both human oocytes and sperm or of embryos for the purpose of establishing a pregnancy. These procedures include in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer, intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ISCI), gamete intrafallopian transfer, zygote intrafallopian transfer, tubal embryo transfer, gamete and embryo cryopreservation, oocyte and embryo donation, and gestational surrogacy (Zegers-Hochschild et al., 2009). Since the introduction of IVF in the late 1970s, and the subsequent birth of the world's first IVF baby on July 25, 1978 (Loughlin, 2012), in Great Britain, approximately 3.5 million children worldwide have been born with ARTs (Chambers, Sullivan, Ishihara, Chapman, & Adamson, 2009). Despite the well-documented physical and emotional outcomes associated with infertility and ARTs for couples, and the associated costs, women continue to consent to these procedures to achieve conception, pregnancy, and ultimately parenthood. With the advent of the Internet and social media, couples have discovered new channels for describing and sharing their personal, and often difficult, experiences of undergoing ART and uncovered a new medium for empowerment and support (Hinton, Kurinczuk, & Ziebland, 2010). Health and the Internet The Internet connects people who share interests of all kinds and health is no exception. …
Starting Page	2206
Ending Page	2230
Page Count	25
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Volume Number	22
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2927&context=tqr
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article