Chi vuole un figlio non insiste? La riproduzione medicalmente assistita in Italia: voci da una ricerca

Abstract

The article intends to investigate the delicate topic of Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP), with a focus on female infertility
and the social stigma it entails in the Italian context, in order to understand how different axes of observation intersect: the
theme of work, as the precarious condition of the latest generations of women has not allowed adequate family planning; the
economic aspect; the age factor; the frustration of often invasive and inconclusive medical procedures with the relative psychological
impact (depression, emotional distancing from the partner, social stigma); health risks (possible development of tumors
and possible correlation with the therapies adopted); ethnic differences (few migrant couples turn to PMA centers for cultural
and economic reasons) and geographical differences (the centers are mainly in Northern Italy, which will generate “internal migrations”).
PMA remains a taboo topic that is hardly talked about in Italy due to the stigma associated with it. The article,
through unpublished interviews with mothers who have had children and through PMA, wants to give voice to this desire, with
a look at the subsequent problems: those of a parenthood felt as “special”, because it is often pursued at the cost of a long path
of female medicalization.