1. The Coptic Merchants
1.1. Georgette
1.1.1. 38 years old
1.1.2. owns her own business
1.1.3. feels adoption is not a choice
1.2. Mikhail
1.2.1. 46 years old
1.2.2. is a merchant
1.2.3. feels adoption is a good choice
1.3. IVF treatments
1.3.1. Georgette was diagnosed with PCOS
1.3.1.1. doctor did not treat the condition correctly
1.3.1.2. caused damage to her working fallopian tubes
1.3.2. were told by their Christian Coptic physician to seek treatment in the U.K.
1.3.2.1. treatment was far more advanced
1.3.2.2. they refused to to business responsibilities
1.3.3. due to Mikhail's age his sperm is less viable
1.3.4. have tried two rounds of IVF and ICSI
1.3.4.1. ivf- in vitro infertilization
1.3.4.2. icsi- Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection
2. The three tiered system
2.1. the lower class
2.1.1. rarely come to the clinic for treatment
2.1.2. are offered artificial insemination due to lower cost for treatment
2.1.3. sometimes charity cases are taken
2.1.3.1. example #1 woman who's husband suffered an injury in the war which rendered him infertile
2.1.3.2. example #2 a very beautiful impoverished woman who had irreversible tubal blockage
2.1.4. if seeking treatment will sell everything and take loans for the treatment
2.2. the middle class
2.2.1. treatment is usually a one time proposition; multiple treatments are usually cost prohibitive
2.2.2. highly educated underpaid people make up the middle class the average salary is 1200.00 a year
2.2.3. sometimes the patients parents will take up some of the cost
2.3. the upper class
2.3.1. most women were wealthy prior to marriage
2.3.2. some delayed having children during their best childbearing years for career advancement
2.3.3. able to go to other countries (i.e. the U.S. and E.U.)
2.3.4. some still find multiple treatments cost prohibitive
3. Conclusion
3.1. test-tube baby making in Egypt is an exclusive and exclusionary business
3.2. babies of the elite society do get made
3.3. as ivf becomes more expensive it will not be widespread
4. the oasis dwellers
4.1. Mabruka
4.1.1. underwent cervical electrocautery treatments for infections
4.1.1.1. outdated and dangerous treatment
4.1.1.2. still widely used by Egyptian gynecologist
4.1.2. has irregular menstrual periods
4.1.3. thinks she has "weak" eggs and ovaries
4.1.4. had two artificial inseminations with her husband's sperm
4.2. Ragab
4.2.1. has exploded in anger over the money spent on fertility treatments
4.2.2. thinks that his sperm will be mixed with other men's during treatment
4.2.3. will not allow IVF due to the belief that the pregnancy would be "out-fo-body"
5. The problem of knowledge
5.1. despite the massive globalization of new reproductive technology themselves the accompanying science of assisted contraception has not easily spread around the world
5.2. current Western definitions of "scientific literacy" are inadequate on a number of counts
5.2.1. women's attitudes toward and understandings of science and of what scientists do is shaped by gender, by their 'race' and by many other cultural influences
5.2.2. the meanings of scientific information are thus negotiated through their understandings of local culture and religious mores
5.2.3. Egyptian tend to contemplate new scientific developments in moral terms often referring to their religion for guidance
5.3. acquisition of scientific literacy in the realm of test-tube baby making
5.3.1. Egypt is a "mass media" society
5.3.2. the media has played a major in introducing new reproductive technologies to the public
5.3.3. the media has left many Egyptian consumers of these technologies both uneasy and misinformed
5.4. consumers of new reproduction technologies search for knowledge just as they search for technologies to help them overcome their infertility problems
5.4.1. the desire to know spreads among all social classes
5.4.2. infertile patients may be particularly vulnerable to unrealistic and unfounded expectations of the success of fertility treatments
6. problems of procreative knowledge
6.1. major differences in people in their reproductive knowledge
6.1.1. some believe it is only men that bring life into the world
6.1.2. only men are the true blood relatives of the baby
6.1.3. pre-formed humans are carried in the women's ovum
6.2. models of procreation are slowly changing among poor women in Egypt
6.2.1. women are egg producers
6.2.2. are learning that both a man and woman are needed for procreation
6.3. male infertility
6.3.1. male infertility is rarely accepted as the absolute cause
6.3.2. believe that strengthening medication will cure them
6.4. educationalchallenges include
6.4.1. women can have eggs that are removed and then re-implanted as something else
6.4.2. that women's eggs contribute biological substance to create offspring
6.4.3. that men do not hold the sole biological contribution to conception
6.4.4. eggs and sperm have equal weight to pro-creation
6.4.5. that the joining of egg and sperm can happen outside the body
7. morality and scientific literacy
7.1. separation of procreation from sex
7.2. lack of knowledge about the control over one's own procreative substances once they leave the body
7.3. fetuses that are formed outside the womb are deemed unatural
7.4. after 10 years ivf is still seen as immoral and bad
8. acquiring scientific literacy
8.1. those who acquire the necessary knowledge are much more likely to seek ivf because their knowledge serves as an ally
8.2. the middle and upper class have the proper education on how fertility works
8.3. ivf has become "famous" among infertile couples in Egypt and quite understood by 1996
9. Paths to knowledge
9.1. knowledge acquired from reading books and other printed material
9.2. knowledge acquired from the physicians themselves
9.3. knowledge obtained from the exposure to many forms of public media
10. Scientific literacy in a mass-mediated society
10.1. Egypt has a large and active journalism profession
10.2. television has reached almost every Egyptian
10.3. the Egyptian media has had a crucial role in "spreading the word"
10.3.1. promotes the awareness of new reproductive technologies
10.3.2. publicity for specific IVF centers
10.3.3. covered ongoing developments in the global arean
10.3.4. new uses for the reproductive technologies
10.3.5. moral debate on the uses of new technologies
10.3.6. "normalize" the technologies
10.4. conflicting information in the Egyptian media
10.4.1. reports on the abuses of new reproductive technologies outside the country
10.4.2. they served as an agent of normalization inside Egypt