Abstract
This chapter provides a preliminary survey of infertility and its social context in present-day India. It aims to demonstrate and foreground the historical aspects of this issue, which are essential in order to understand how and why the Indian fertility industry has developed in the ways it has done, and why infertility remains in many respects a taboo subject. Drawing on English-language Indian newspapers, government reports, film, and literature, Grey shows how present-day attitudes and practices have their roots in policies and ideas originally generated during the late twentieth century. He explores the demographic context and population policies of India; reproductive medicine, adoption, and surrogacy; the social and cultural context of infertility; and religion. The chapter reveals how the profound stigmatization of infertility in contemporary India disproportionately affects women, regardless of faith, caste, region, or class background.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Palgrave Handbook of Infertility in History |
| Subtitle of host publication | Approaches, Contexts and Perspectives |
| Editors | Gayle Davis, Tracy Loughran |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Pages | 241-262 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-137-52080-7 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-137-52079-1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Sept 2017 |