When a couple receives the news that they cannot have children, their world seems to collapse. In addition to the frustration they feel from doors inside, the pressure that is generated by the environment is added. Family and friends, and even strangers, ask "when is the baby?" when inside is living an ordeal.
The social perception of sterility, that is, the inability of a couple to conceive a child, is a complex issue, and varies greatly depending on the cultural traditions of each society. Is sterility accepted by society or is it a taboo subject?
Sterility is a medical problem.
Sterility is a medical problem, but sometimes it is not conceived in this way, but is associated with a lack of virility in men or the inability of women to fulfill the role of mother that society has assigned.
In some cultures it is still seen as I don't know enough man or woman to be able to conceive a baby. Of course, a misconception.
How Europeans see sterility
The study "Is infertilty a taboo subject? Attitudes towards infertility in different countries" presented a few days ago in Munich, analyzes the perception that sterile couples have about its situation in ten countries in Europe.
The majority of Italian, Irish and German patients consider that reproduction treatments are not socially accepted in their country, while only 30% of Catalans and 36% of Britons believe it.
In Europe there is a great divergence, with restrictive countries such as Italy or Germany, where certain techniques are prohibited and the couples who have to resort to them live it with secrecy, compared to others such as Spain or Great Britain in which Assisted Reproduction techniques are not only allowed by the law but also are covered by the public system and have a greater degree of social visibility.
Thus, in Italy, where during the last years the law has banned treatments such as the donation of eggs or semen, 71% of patients consider infertility to be taboo. In the case of Ireland and Germany, this percentage is lower but also significant, with 56% and 60% of respondents who believe that this problem arouses misgivings and prejudices.
For Dr. Marisa López-Teijón, Head of Assisted Reproduction of Institut Marquès and author of the study, “in Spain the situation is better than in the rest of European countries; according to these data we relate it to the fact of having the least restrictive law in Europe and less religious conditioning ”.
Couples need to share the problem with their surroundings
Despite the differences that exist in each country, most of the sterile couples consulted have stated the need to share your problem with the closest environment. Only with the intimate.
In 77 percent of cases, couples have entrusted their problem to family and close friends. Beyond if it is right or wrong socially, the couple needs to let off steam, express their feelings about the impossibility of conceiving and seeking containment of their loved ones.
In the case of Spanish couples, 8 out of 10 told in their environment that they were doing treatment. 30% told their family, close friends and co-workers, 20% to their family and friends and 50% only to their family.
But it is only shared in privacy. Most couples do not share their experience in public or social networks, for fear of comments or judgments that others could make, and above all, to protect their future children in the case of resorting to some method of assisted reproduction.
Sterility unites the couple
Given the impossibility of conceiving a baby, the couple seeks mutual support. It is a problem that touches deeply and involves both, and joining is the only way to one day achieve the dream of being parents.
According to a work carried out by the Institut Marquès team on 504 patients from 27 countries, 65% of couples consider that having a treatment has joined them.
Finding out that you can't have children is a blow to a couple. In your case, how have you lived sterility? Have you felt pressured by the environment? Have you lived it as a taboo subject? Has he joined you? We would like to know your experience, you can help other couples who are going through the same.
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In Babies and more | Sterility and infertility, when is there a problem?
