Local Babies, Global Science Chap 6 & 7

1. Chapter 6

2. The "Mother of the Tube"

2.1. Many Egyptian women believe Egypt isn't as advanced as the U.S. regarding IVF treatment. Rates are important to many women regarding the treatment as well.

3. The (In)efficacy of NRTs

3.1. Whether test-tube baby making is as successful in Egypt as in many other IVF providers is a main concern. Efficacy issues are proven due to the many attempts at IVF treatment. Presenting one overarching, inflated percentage, which may be written on an informed consent form, but which is then verbally "uplifted" to an even higher percentage by the treating physician.

4. The Egyptian Game of Inflation

4.1. Egyptian inflation and deception in success rates is a result of the unhealthy competition between centers that generate the need to inflate in order to attract patients.

5. Positioning Egypt in the Discourses of Hope

5.1. IVF providers invoke inflated success rates along with God's will, an attempt to convince infertile patients that they should try these technologies as their only hope of getting pregnant.

6. Realities of Success and Failure

6.1. Test-tube baby making is a low odds proposition, just like in the West. The percentage in Egypt is likely to be even lower due to the proliferation of many new "low quality" IVF centers.

7. Conclusion

7.1. Problems of efficacy are a fundamental and monumental arena of constraint for infertile IVF patients in Egypt. Most Egyptians are oblivious to this industry in fighting, and attribute many of the problems to self issues.

8. Chapter 7

9. The Movie Star Patient

9.1. Movie star patients are not representatives of Egyptian women. Hormones cause many side effects that are negative regarding many beliefs of what beauty is. Weight gain, skin effects, and hair effects are all common when taking hormones.

10. Embodying the Patriarchal Bargain

10.1. Half of infertile couples are due to the males inability to produce offspring. Even though this is so, it is often attributed to the female. Women in all social classes suffer inexorable pressures to become mothers.

11. Body Histories

11.1. Most patients seeking fertility assistance at IVF centers have been treated before. Many Egyptian men smoke cigarettes and this a large factor in creating infertile men. Many women undergo unnecessary surgeries in an attempt to become fertile, even when they aren't the one with fertility issues.

12. The Unhappiness of Hormones

13. Worrying, Waiting, and Bedding Down

13.1. Women who are given hormones are usually bed ridden within 15 days. Painful cramping and other treatment measures are needed and both of these cause the woman to be confined to a bed.

14. Conclusion

14.1. These hormones are necessary in IVF treatment, and cause distress for both women and men. Gender dynamics make issues harder on the woman often times, but men often suffer for the ones they love.