Thought Catalog/Unsplash Corporations have used feminist language to promote their products for decades. In the 1980s, companies co-opted messaging about female autonomy to encourage women’s consumption of unhealthy commodities, such as tobacco and alcohol. Today, feminist narratives around empowerment and women’s rights are being co-opted to market interventions that are not backed by evidence across many areas of women’s health. This includes by commercial companies, industry, mass media and well-intentioned advocacy groups. Some of these health technologies, tests and treatments are useful ..read more

Waiting By The Window by Carl Holsøe. Wiki Commons Choosing to be child-free is more common than ever before in some countries, including the US. Many people see not having children an ethical and ecological choice, made to protect the environment, people and other species. Being child-free is about being “green”. Consequently, more positive discourses around childlessness are emerging. But this was not always the case. In societies that encourage an increased birthrate, motherhood is often presented as natural and caring. Meanwhile, women without children are often described as biological fai ..read more

GaudiLab/Shutterstock Women (and men) are having their first child at older ages. As a result, couples are sometimes unable to conceive or require medical intervention in their pursuit of parenthood. Others may face a “fertility gap” between the number of children they anticipate having and those they actually have. Young people often overestimate womens’ capacity to become pregnant as they age, and the extent to which technology like IVF can help them conceive. Despite these issues, conversations about fertility and childbearing remain taboo. I have found that women in particular feel uncomfo ..read more

Endometriosis pain can be so severe that it impairs a person's ability to keep up with school, succeed at work or have a satisfying sex life. Kinga Krzeminska/Moment via Getty Images Endometriosis causes physical, sexual and emotional pain. About 190 million people around the globe have endometriosis, including one in 10 American women, but there has historically been a deafening silence about the disease and the pervasive impact it can have on a person’s life. While endometriosis is a chronic gynecological illness that can affect anyone with a uterus – women, transgender men and nonbinary ind ..read more

Four in every ten people who start IVF treatment in the UK end it without having their child, according to data from the UK fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Fertility clinics’ websites are prone to promoting their success rates or enthusing about the latest technology that will revolutionise treatment. But research has found these websites often report on the clinic’s pregnancy or live birth rates without relevant information on how these figures were calculated, or how many patients were involved. It has also been shown that some clinics make claims about ..read more

An incantation bowl with an Aramaic inscription around a demon from Nippur, Mesopotamia. Wikimedia Commons Sarah Clegg’s Woman’s Lore: 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi is about ancient demonic figures, expressly the infamous child-killing monsters of the Near East and Mediterranean. Intimately tied to childbirth and infant and child mortality, such monsters were female in form. Often, they were negatively connected to female sexuality. Chronicled over centuries, monsters such as the Mesopotamian Lamashtu, the Greek Lamia, and the Hebrew (and Mesopotamian) Lilith are, in Clegg’s thes ..read more

Krishh/Unsplash The opportunity to conceive, carry and give birth to a biologically related child is a deep desire for many women and their partners. Since the introduction of IVF in 1978, many people in countries such as Australia have accessed support and resources to help realise their reproductive goals. For some women, the lack of a functioning uterus has kept that opportunity out of reach. This includes those with a congenital condition such as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, and those who had a hysterectomy for medical reasons. For these women, the only options for parenthood h ..read more

ABC In a recent episode of Bluey, Onesies, six-year-old Bluey asks her mum Chilli what’s wrong with Auntie Brandy, who has come to visit for the first time in four years. “Is she sad?” Bluey asks. “And why have we only seen her once in our lives?” It is hinted by the show Brandy is unable to have children. “I’m sorry it’s been so long,” Brandy later says to her sister. “It’s just hard seeing you all, you know?” “I know,” Chilli replies, reaching for her sister’s hand. It is another example of the hit program’s gentle and insightful exploration of complex issues, sparking a flood of positive r ..read more

Assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization can help expand families, but regulations aren't consistent across states. moodboard/Image Source via Getty Images The fertility industry generates approximately US$8 billion in revenue annually and plays a role in the birth of tens of thousands of children each year. Regulations are currently limited even as technology evolves and demand increases. But a new Colorado bill introduced in late April 2022 could help the industry better meet the needs of those who use it. Fertility treatments take a number of forms. They may include fe ..read more

Despite the prevalence of endometriosis, people often live with pain and other symptoms for years before being diagnosed. (Shutterstock) Endometriosis affects an estimated 200 million people worldwide. Despite its prevalence, those living with the disease often wait an average of 7.5 years between start of symptoms and diagnosis. This delay is due to a variety of reasons, including medical dismissal, a low prioritization of the condition and its overall misrepresentation in research funding, policy and media. Although often represented as a women’s reproductive disease, endometriosis also appe ..read more