Title: The Medical Pluralism of Infertility: Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Sacred Treatments
Speaker: Zheng Guanlei (Department of Sociology, University of Science and Technology Beijing)
Date: Friday, 22 March 2024
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Mode: In-person
Venue: Room 213, Humanities Building, New Asia College, CUHK
Abstract:
This presentation focuses on infertility and utilizes the theory of medical pluralism and its framework to discuss pluralistic medical strategies and their relationships to the local infertile women in Guangxi, China. The social and cultural environment has created a local fertility culture, in which fertility not only ensures the continuation of the family line but also defines a woman’s role and life meaning. Infertility is considered as “different”, which leads to women having low self-esteem, having damaged social relationships, and living in a precarious marriage. As a result, pursuing reproductive success becomes the center of the infertile women’s lives. In the medical pluralism of the local infertile women, Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) occupy a core position, and Traditional Chinese Medicine and Sacred Treatments are important supplements to ARTs. ARTs repair the body’s “obstacles”, Traditional Chinese Medicine regulates the body’s balance, and Sacred Treatments relieve psychological anxiety. Indeed, they complement each other, giving infertile women the confidence they need to continue treatment and contributing to reproductive success.
Bio:
ZHENG Guanlei is a Lecturer at the Department of Sociology, University of Science and Technology Beijing. She received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Peking University and held a two-year postdoctoral research position at Tsinghua University. The title of her Ph.D. dissertation is The Circle of Life: Fertility Ethnography of Pingdi Yao in Guangxi, China. She has published several articles on fertility culture, marriage, childbirth, and intergenerational care. Currently, she is working on a new project “Infertility and the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) in China”.