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Compelled to Try: The Never‐Enough Quality of Conceptive Technology
Author(s) -
Sandelowski Margarete
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1991.5.1.02a00070
Subject(s) - fertility , quality (philosophy) , work (physics) , character (mathematics) , psychology , sociology , social psychology , epistemology , engineering , philosophy , mechanical engineering , population , demography , geometry , mathematics
In this article I use literature from the medical and social sciences, as well as interviews with women and couples with fertility impairments, to argue against locating the compelling character of conceptive technology exclusively in pronatalist or patriarchal agendas. I suggest that the attraction to this technology derives not only from these broader cultural values but also from the way that the technology itself works (or does not work). Studying conceptive techniques helps illuminate why enough never seems to be enough for couples and physicians in pursuit of fertility.