Pitkä matka äidiksi – narratiivinen tutkimus äitiyden rakentumisesta tahattoman lapsettomuuden ja hedelmöityshoitojen jälkeen

Abstract

Involuntary childlessness is a painful experience of the unfilled desire of having a child that affects approximately one in five women in Finland. Drawing on multidisciplinary family research, with a particular focus on maternity and childlessness, the narrative study reported in this dissertation explored how women who have experienced involuntary childlessness and undergone fertility treatments construct their subsequent motherhood. Together with a summary section, this dissertation reports on three sub-studies published in blind-reviewed articles. The women who participated in the study were recruited via a written request for personal narratives. The final data comprised written (n = 33) and spoken (n = 26) narratives produced by previously involuntarily childless women who later conceived. The data were analyzed narratively. The study revealed that becoming a mother after years of childlessness is neither a straightforward nor easy process. According to the results, childlessness does not end with having a child; instead, the experience of childlessness persists, affecting the construction of maternal identity and motherhood: the women narrated having fractured, dual or gradually evolving maternal identities. The study demonstrated that previously childless women construct their subsequent motherhood by attaching their stories about becoming a mother and related expectations to the cultural model, that is, by constructing their maternal identity through narratives, they seek to give meaning to their previous childlessness-related experiences. The results also showed that the women experienced challenges in receiving social support, and most of them narrated coping with their challenges unaided. The women’s narratives suggest that becoming a mother after long-term involuntary childlessness is a rather lonely and merciless process. The results of this research study have implications for the planning of family services in a variety of infertility and maternity care settings. First, professionals should be more sensitive and understanding in guiding and supporting previously childless women on their way to parenthood. Second, psychosocial support for fertility patients in Finland should be statutory and psychological services built into the treatment process, as is the case in many other European countries. Keywords: involuntary childlessness, becoming a mother, narrative, narrative identity, coping, social support