Parenthood as Privilege: The Cultural Tensions of Acceptable Reproduction

Thesis advisor: Stephen PfohlParenthood is one of the most salient, fundamental roles that adults adopt cross-culturally, yet, as this dissertation will show, the process of becoming a parent is culturally fraught with both meaning and privilege. In particular, I focus on the cultural tensions of biological parenthood, exploring what the biological relationship between parent and child means for various groups, and how the concept of biological parenthood is judged differently for those different populations. Specifically, I focus on young parents (who society deems unfit to both reproduce and to parent) and teen pregnancy prevention efforts, birthparents who relinquish infants for adoption (who society deems fit to reproduce, but unfit to parent) and the consequences for their lifecourses, and individuals experiencing infertility (who society deems fit to both reproduce and parent - but challenges their ways of achieving either) and their interactions with the biomedical model and healthcare system. From each population, we can gain more nuanced insight into the role of biology in framing parenthood, and how society determines whose parenthood is "acceptable," allowable, and supported. Finally, I draw specific recommendations from each piece, hoping to gain insight into how changes to sexual education, reproductive health advocacy, adoption policy, and the healthcare system can improve the outcomes for vulnerable, marginalized populations and legitimate the pathways to parenthood for all.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology

Conceiving Infertility: Negotiating the Biomedical Model

Thesis advisor: Stephen PfohlAssisted reproductive technologies have transformed the way medicine responds to infertility, as well as the ways those who go through difficulty conceiving understand their bodies and their experiences. In many capacities, however, the biomedical model is insufficient: recognition is contingent upon attempts to conceive, diagnosis is often imprecise or unexplained, and treatments strive for solutions without cures - and are frequently incapable of providing even the former. Interviews with 26 participants with current or recent histories of infertility revealed the ways they negotiate the biomedical model: 1) going beyond medical treatment in making lifestyle changes; 2) pursuing alternative treatments; 3) questioning doctors and playing active roles in determining courses of treatment; 4) using religion, spirituality, or magical thinking to develop other, non-bodily ways of controlling infertility; 5) extracting meaning from the experiences, infusing the objective idea of "disease" with subjective purpose; 6) building personal, alternate models that encompass a wide range of ways of thinking about infertility; and 7) directly challenging the scientific authority of the biomedical model, resisting the terms of treatment, or questioning the ability of medicine to offer them solutions. No participants showed pure compliance - as all included at least one of the negotiations - and none showed full resistance - as all had sought at least some medical treatments. Understanding these negotiations leads to a better concept of patient identity and the "illness" experience; it can inform policy in regards to prevention, education, and insurance mandates; and it better reveals who society permits to pursue parenthood in what ways.Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2009.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology

Patterns of Incubation Behavior in Northern Bobwhites (\u3ci\u3eColinus virginianus\u3c/i\u3e)

Patterns of incubation and nesting behavior for many species of birds, especially those with cryptic nests, have been difficult to obtain due to logistical and technological limitations. As a result, little is known about the daily attendance rhythms and behavioral patterns of many species, including the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), despite this species being one of the most studied birds in the world. Incubation represents parental investment in offspring, and a multitude of factors may affect investment behaviors, including reproductive ecology, sex and age of parent, habitat quality, clutch age, and timing in the nesting season. Most Northern Bobwhite nests are incubated by a single adult, most often by females, but also by some males. We assessed the nest attendance patterns and parental investment in bob-white clutches (n 118) using continuous near-infrared video of nests being incubated by male or female bobwhites. We found that incubating parents took 0 –3 recesses per day. A single recess was most common for 87% of nest-days, and most of these were during mid-day to late afternoon (12:00 19:00). Mean total daily recess time was 182 min (95% CI: 98–264) for nests that hatched and 224 min (95% CI: 140–308) for nests that failed. We observed no difference between sexes in the number or length of recesses taken, but females initiated recess later in the day (median start time 15:00) than males (median start time 14:00). We found that nest recess length decreased as the clutch got older and increased as the nesting season progressed. Video surveillance systems proved to be a use-ful tool for observing and quantifying patterns of incubation behavior in a ground-nesting species with cryptic nests

Patterns of Incubation Behavior in Northern Bobwhites (\u3ci\u3eColinus virginianus\u3c/i\u3e)

Patterns of incubation and nesting behavior for many species of birds, especially those with cryptic nests, have been difficult to obtain due to logistical and technological limitations. As a result, little is known about the daily attendance rhythms and behavioral patterns of many species, including the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), despite this species being one of the most studied birds in the world. Incubation represents parental investment in offspring, and a multitude of factors may affect investment behaviors, including reproductive ecology, sex and age of parent, habitat quality, clutch age, and timing in the nesting season. Most Northern Bobwhite nests are incubated by a single adult, most often by females, but also by some males. We assessed the nest attendance patterns and parental investment in bob-white clutches (n 118) using continuous near-infrared video of nests being incubated by male or female bobwhites. We found that incubating parents took 0 –3 recesses per day. A single recess was most common for 87% of nest-days, and most of these were during mid-day to late afternoon (12:00 19:00). Mean total daily recess time was 182 min (95% CI: 98–264) for nests that hatched and 224 min (95% CI: 140–308) for nests that failed. We observed no difference between sexes in the number or length of recesses taken, but females initiated recess later in the day (median start time 15:00) than males (median start time 14:00). We found that nest recess length decreased as the clutch got older and increased as the nesting season progressed. Video surveillance systems proved to be a use-ful tool for observing and quantifying patterns of incubation behavior in a ground-nesting species with cryptic nests

The epidemiological burden of obesity in childhood: a worldwide epidemic requiring urgent action

Background: In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity in children has increased dramatically. This worldwide epidemic has important consequences, including psychiatric, psychological and psychosocial disorders in childhood, and increased risk of developing noncommunicable diseases later in life. Treatment of obesity is difficult, and children with excess weight are likely to become adults with obesity. These trends have led World Health Organization (WHO) member states to endorse a target of no increase in obesity in childhood by 2025. Main body: Estimates of overweight in children aged under 5 years are available jointly from UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank. Country-level estimates of obesity in children aged from 2 to 4 years have been published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). For children aged from 5 to 19, obesity estimates are available from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration. The global prevalence of overweight in children aged under 5 years has increased modestly, but with heterogeneous trends in low- and middle-income regions, while the prevalence of obesity in children aged from 2 to 4 has increased moderately. For children aged 5 to 19, obesity was relatively rare in 1975, but was much more common in 2016. Conclusions: It is recognised that the key drivers of this epidemic form an obesogenic environment, which includes changing food systems and reduced physical activity. Although cost-effective interventions such as WHO “best buys” have been identified, political will and implementation have so far been limited. There is therefore a need to implement effective programmes and policies in multiple sectors to address overnutrition, undernutrition, mobility and physical activity. To be successful, the obesity epidemic must be a political priority, with these issues addressed both locally and globally. This must involve coordinated work by governments, civil society, private corporations and other key stakeholders

‘I could see myself doing something like that’: US women’s engagement with characters who experience abortion, adoption and surrogacy on Little Fires Everywhere

Building on existing scholarship examining how audiences interpret reproductive experiences on film and television, we investigate how viewers make meaning of representations of motherhood, abortion, adoption, and surrogacy on the Hulu television miniseries Little Fires Everywhere. We recruited twenty-one participants to watch the series and conducted three virtual focus groups of seven women each. Based on the racial identities of the main characters in the series, we segmented these groups by race: one group each of white women, Black women, and Chinese American women. Focus groups were facilitated by moderators who matched the racial and ethnic backgrounds of each group. We asked participants about their overall reactions to the series, their impressions of various characters, and each reproductive health plotline. Participants expressed both tender and critical reactions to characters who endured motherhood, surrogacy and adoption, yet most participants were overtly critical of Lexie, the character who obtained an abortion. We argue that this is likely because the character of Lexie is written as largely unsympathetic, leaving audiences with little opportunity to form a parasocial relationship with her. We discuss the implications of this for cultural conversations and understandings of abortion more broadly

“You can’t tell this story without abortion”: television creators on narrative intention and development of abortion stories on their shows

Abstract Scholars and advocates often cite media as a mechanism to change culture, especially related to contested issues in American politics such as abortion. While there is mixed evidence in support of this claim, it is not clear how media content creators conceptualize their abortion plotlines. We identified television shows available to U.S. audiences that included abortion plotlines and purposively recruited the creators who worked on them. Forty-six American creators completed in-depth interviews. Respondents’ primary reasons for including abortion plotlines were: (1) to normalize abortion; (2) to deploy abortion as source of character development; and (3) to respond to politics. Some respondents reported barriers to getting abortion content from page to screen, including stigmatizing attitudes towards abortion from colleagues and network executives. Respondents did not necessarily aspire to reflect the reality of abortion access in the US, instead seeking to destigmatize abortion by portraying televisual representations of compassionate, shame-free abortions

Exposure to Lived Representations of Abortion in Popular Television Program Plotlines on Abortion-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Support: An Exploratory Study

Evidence suggests that entertainment media may influence knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to health topics. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it is critical to examine how these media may be associated with people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions related to abortion. Using a non-experimental ex post facto design, we examined whether exposure to any of three abortion plotlines was correlated with (a) greater knowledge about abortion, (b) lower stigmatizing attitudes about abortion, and (c) higher likelihood of supporting someone seeking an abortion among a sample of television audience members (N = 1,016), administered via a survey on Qualtrics. We selected three scripted, fictional abortion plotlines on the U.S. television shows Station 19, Better Things, and A Million Little Things, based on medical accuracy and airdates near each other in March 2022. Exposure to a plotline was defined as accurately answering at least two recall questions about a given plotline. We found that compared to those who were not exposed to any of the plotlines, exposure to any of the three plot lines was associated with greater knowledge about abortion and higher willingness to support a friend seeking an abortion, but not with lower stigmatizing attitudes. Exposure to medically accurate depictions of abortion on television may be one way to improve knowledge about abortion and community support for people seeking abortion