Infertility and Intimacy in an Online Community (Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life)

This book explores an online support group for women who are infertile. Offering a close-up view of the women's identities and emotions as they navigate the "roller-coaster" world of infertility, a range of questions are addressed: How do the women seek support? How do they offer support to one another? How are intimacies produced in the online space? Through narrative analysis of online journals and posts, the authors examine the impact of infertility on women's perceptions of their bodies, their struggles with medical professionals, on their relationships with family and friends, and the challenges that a diagnosis of infertility presents to couples. Infertility and Intimacy in an Online Community will appeal to social scientists, students from a range of health science disciplines, counsellors and health professionals, and women and men who are dealing with infertility. Acknowledgements......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Journey to the Other Side......Page 9 Infertility and Its Impact on Sufferers......Page 11 The Cost of Reproductive Technology......Page 12 Why the Experiences of Women?......Page 18 A Feminist Approach to Infertility......Page 20 Re-imagining Community for the Online World......Page 24 Offline Lives, Online Worlds......Page 25 About the Study......Page 27 Stronger Together......Page 28 The Voice Behind the Mask......Page 30 Shape of the Book......Page 31 References......Page 34 Introduction......Page 37 The Birth of Support Groups......Page 40 Therapy Culture and the “Emotionalisation” of Society......Page 41 Key Debates in the Research Literature on Online Support Groups......Page 43 The Empowering Effects of OSG Participation......Page 46 Characteristics and Benefits of Online Support Groups......Page 51 Asynchronous Communication......Page 52 Invisibility and Anonymity......Page 54 Text-Based Communication......Page 58 The Significance of Social Support......Page 59 References......Page 65 3: Finding Support in the Online World......Page 71 Changes to Intimacy in the Twenty-First Century......Page 72 Information Seeking......Page 75 Venting......Page 78 Grief......Page 80 Building Intimacy and Copresence in Stronger Together......Page 81 The Importance of Anonymity in the Online World......Page 84 Being Friends Off and Online......Page 87 Conclusion......Page 89 References......Page 90 Introduction......Page 92 Positive Thinking......Page 95 The Imperative of Positive Thinking......Page 99 The “Dark Side” of Positive Thinking......Page 101 Disciplining the Body (and the Mind)......Page 107 Existential Anxiety and Questions of Identity: Who Am I Now?......Page 116 Conclusion......Page 122 References......Page 123 Introduction......Page 127 Mothers......Page 133 Mothers’ Day......Page 135 Pregnant Others Amongst Friends and Colleagues......Page 138 Undeserving Pregnant Others and Moral Outrage......Page 145 Conclusion......Page 148 References......Page 149 Introduction......Page 151 Relational Uncertainty, Partner Interference and Boundary Turbulence......Page 152 Feeling Supported......Page 154 When Support Fails......Page 157 Loss of Spontaneity and Pleasure in the Couple Relationship......Page 162 Protecting from Disappointment and Judgement......Page 166 Conclusion......Page 168 References......Page 169 In Closing......Page 172 Relationships in the Infertile World......Page 174 A Refuge from the Storm: Online Support Groups......Page 182 Infertility OSGs and Implications for Professional Therapeutic Practice......Page 184 Researching into the Future......Page 186 Conclusion......Page 187 References......Page 188 Appendix A: Codes Used in Analysis of Journals and Posts......Page 190 Appendix B: Common Abbreviations Used on Stronger Together Site......Page 196 References......Page 200 Index......Page 213 This book explores an online support group for women who are infertile. Offering a close-up view of the women's identities and emotions as they navigate the "roller-coaster" world of infertility, a range of questions are addressed: How do the women seek support? How do they offer support to one another? How are intimacies produced in the online space? Through narrative analysis of online journals and posts, the authors examine the impact of infertility on women's perceptions of their bodies, their struggles with medical professionals, on their relationships with family and friends, and the challenges that a diagnosis of infertility presents to couples.__Infertility and Intimacy in an Online Community__