Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Medicalization and Persistence
Patient-Centred Medicine
Outline of the Book

Chapter 1. Studying ARTs: Theory, Context, the Clinic and Methods

Understanding the Use of ARTs
Dutch Context – Families, Children and Childlessness
The Radboud Clinic
The Study

Chapter 2. ‘Dutch IVF’. Legislation, Guidelines and Health Insurances

Legislation and Guidelines
Health Insurance Coverage
Conclusion

Chapter 3. The Couples and their Quest for a Child

Social and Demographic Characteristics
Facing Fertility Problems: Diverse Points of Departure
Couples’ Quest for a Child: the Process
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Adoption as a Last Resort
Conclusion

Chapter 4. Daily Practices in the Patient-Centred Clinic

Interpersonal Aspects of Care
Privacy (or Not)
Abundant Information
Psycho-Social Support and Empathy
Decision Making – Multiple Dynamics
Conclusion

Chapter 5. Information and Interpretation. Risks and Rates

IVF Success Rates: What Do They Tell Us?
Risks: Facts and Perceptions
Beyond Facts – Uncertainty and Trust
Conclusion

Chapter 6. The Body and Visualizing Technologies

Gaining Insight in the Reproductive Body and its Flaws
Visualization of Reproduction through IVF
Case: Louise’s Diary
Trying Once More? Compelling Technology
Conclusion

Chapter 7. Gendered Suffering and Support

The Gendered and Unequal Burdens of IVF
Sharing the Grief of Loss after IVF
Essentializing Genetics and Gender Dynamics
Conclusion

Chapter 8. Bioethics in Practice

Multi-Disciplinary Ethics Meeting
Case: Woman Carrier of a Cancer Gene
Concerns in Context
Addressing Ethically Sensitive Requests
Conclusion

Chapter 9. Conclusion

Dutch IVF
Bioethics in Practice
Patient-Centred Practices
Gender Inequality and the Imperative of Genetics
Final Thoughts: Implications for the Field and Future Research

Appendices

Appendix I: Methods
Appendix II: Social and Demographic Background Data Of Study Participants
Appendix III: Patients’ or Couples’ Characteristics or Situations Leading to Concerns among Clinic Staff and their Reasons for Withholding Treatment

Glossary
Reference list
Index

Patient-Centred IVF

Bioethics and Care in a Dutch Clinic

Trudie Gerrits

372 pages, 3 tables, bibliog., index

ISBN 978-1-78533-226-5 Hb Published (August 2016)

eISBN 978-1-78533-227-2 eBook

Details

“The ethnographic perspective of the book offers a valuable insight into the limitations that patient-centred approaches offer to solving the issues of medicalization in the context of ART. What is more, the book provides a close look into the daily work of health care providers, which is extremely valuable as it offers a careful analysis of health care providers’ interactions with patients, including mundane details often left outside of the analytical gaze.” • Medicine Anthropology Theory

“The social scientific study of reproduction is a growing field and scholars in that field will welcome a book on ART in the Dutch context as do a wide range of scholars and general readers interested in either feminism, gender, or health care. Physicians and other medical professionals will be interested in this work due to its clear implications for practice.” • Arthur L. Greil, Alfred University

Contemporary Dutch policy and legislation facilitate the use of high quality, accessible and affordable assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to all citizens in need of them, while at the same time setting some strict boundaries on their use in daily clinical practices. Through the ethnographic study of a single clinic in this national context, Patient-Centred IVF examines how this particular form of medicine, aiming to empower its patients, co-shapes the experiences, views and decisions of those using these technologies. Gerrits contends that to understand the use of reproductive technologies in practice and the complexity of processes of medicalization, we need to go beyond ‘easy assumptions’ about the hegemony of biomedicine and the expected impact of patient-centredness.

Trudie Gerrits is Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Netherlands, where she is co-director of the Masters in Medical Anthropology and Sociology (MAS).

Series: Volume 33, Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives

Subject: Medical Anthropology

Area: Northern Europe

LC: RG133.5

BISAC: MED082000 MEDICAL/Reproductive Medicine & Technology; MED070000 MEDICAL/Perinatology & Neonatology; MED078000 MEDICAL/Public Health

BIC: MBNH Personal & public health; PSXM Medical anthropology

berghahn New York · Oxford

Contents

Patient-Centred IVF

Bioethics and Care in a Dutch Clinic

Trudie Gerrits

Series: Volume 33, Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives

Subject: Medical Anthropology

Area: Northern Europe

Home -> Title

Contents

Patient-Centred IVF

Bioethics and Care in a Dutch Clinic

Trudie Gerrits

Series: Volume 33, Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives

Subject: Medical Anthropology

Area: Northern Europe