The Socio-Cultural Implications of Infertility: Gendered Discrimination and Female Identity of Infertile Women in Faridpur District, Bangladesh

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Infertility; Identity; Societal perceptions; Social stigma; Agency; Bangladesh

Abstract

Motherhood has a direct connection to a woman’s social status and identity. Although infertility is a medical condition that affects both men and women, it is commonly seen as a woman’s problem in Bangladesh. This study investigates the socio-cultural implications of infertility on women, specifically the gendered discrimination and identity of infertile women. This study followed Rosaldo and Ortner’s concept of public vs private and nature vs culture, and Stuart Hall’s concept of identity. Infertile women are frequently perceived as ‘Opoya’ (unlucky) or ‘Olukkhune’ (cursed). They are often victims of gendered discrimination and marginalization within their families and communities and are subjected to physical as well as symbolic violence, including sociocultural pressure, oppression, social stigma, verbal abuse, and exclusion from cultural events. In many cases, childless women lose support from their husbands and families, making it difficult to earn a living. The identities of infertile women are shaped by social stigma. In this case, women carry the identity of ‘Baja’ (barren), and ‘Atkuire’ (useless). Moreover, even when the man is infertile, the blame is usually placed on the woman, forcing her to carry the identity of pseudo-infertility. However, some infertile women still try to construct their own identity by asserting their agency through working, adopting children, or leaving their abusive husbands. This qualitative study used snowball sampling and conducted 21 in-depth interviews (IDIs) and 3 key informant interviews (KIIs) to collect data.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Kanta Kaniz Bristy
AU  - Shanzida Farhana
AU  - Md Rezone Kabir
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/30
TI  - The Socio-Cultural Implications of Infertility: Gendered Discrimination and Female Identity of Infertile Women in Faridpur District, Bangladesh
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Challenges and Trends in Arts and Social Sciences (ICCTASS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 270
EP  - 282
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_21
ID  - Bristy2026
ER  -