Reproductive technology in Italy between gender policy and inequality. Can we speak of "social infertility"?

Abstract

This article focus on the practices of Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) or ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) related to the process of medicalization of the body, of human reproduction and of everyday life, with a view to the social context in which ART develop. In particular, the Italian context shows some contradictions between the advances in biomedicine and biotechnology and legislative and political conservatism.

This study will therefore consider: a) some theoretical approaches on the relationship  between reproductive technology and women's bodies; b) the relationship between Italian policies and social, family and parenting structures; c) the impact of reproductive technologies on gender roles; d) gender inequality, still rooted in the Italian context and facing the challenges of MAP, as well as the persistence of procreative conventional models.

As for the methodology of the study, we have carried out an "integrated study" based on the existing sociological and anthropological international literature and databases and on a qualitative research conducted in a local context.

Keywords: reproduction, technology, gender, medicalisation, infertility