“In
the light of this reality, the rationalist suggestion I have encountered – that one guard against a desire to
become a parent by pre-emptively
being sterilised before the desire has arisen – seems a recipe for psychological disaster.”
It
strikes me that one straightforward way to test this claim empirically would be to look at the extent to which the lives of
people who are infertile due to some pathology tend to end in “psychological disaster.”
“The
descriptive literature on the psychological consequences of infertility presents infertility as a devastating
experience, especially for women.
Attempts to test the psychological consequences hypothesis have produced more equivocal results. In general, studies which
look for psychopathology have not found significant differences between the infertile and
others. Studies which
employ measures of stress and self-esteem have found significant differences.”
Perhaps someone feels like investigating this particular
sub-issue in more detail!
As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.
As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population (with rates between 20 and 40% compared with 10%)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.
So what? I bet there were people before abolition who felt genuinely sad, stressed, and unhappy about not being able to afford their own slaves, and so became unproductive.
If the price of a person’s participation in EA is the non-consensual imposition of life on a new (possibly just as sad, stressed, and unhappy) person then I am prepared to say to them ‘tough luck’, relieve your guilt by adopting or teaching, and try to be a non-failure in other ways.
Why should people get special treatment just because they claim to be ’EA’s? Or are you saying IVF for *everyone* is now an EA cause?
Nice post—many interesting points!
One minor comment, regarding this bit:
“In the light of this reality, the rationalist suggestion I have encountered – that one guard against a desire to become a parent by pre-emptively being sterilised before the desire has arisen – seems a recipe for psychological disaster.”
It strikes me that one straightforward way to test this claim empirically would be to look at the extent to which the lives of people who are infertile due to some pathology tend to end in “psychological disaster.”
According to the most cited article on the topic ,
“The descriptive literature on the psychological consequences of infertility presents infertility as a devastating experience, especially for women. Attempts to test the psychological consequences hypothesis have produced more equivocal results. In general, studies which look for psychopathology have not found significant differences between the infertile and others. Studies which employ measures of stress and self-esteem have found significant differences.”
Perhaps someone feels like investigating this particular sub-issue in more detail!
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population (with rates between 20 and 40% compared with 10%) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.
So what? I bet there were people before abolition who felt genuinely sad, stressed, and unhappy about not being able to afford their own slaves, and so became unproductive.
If the price of a person’s participation in EA is the non-consensual imposition of life on a new (possibly just as sad, stressed, and unhappy) person then I am prepared to say to them ‘tough luck’, relieve your guilt by adopting or teaching, and try to be a non-failure in other ways.
Why should people get special treatment just because they claim to be ’EA’s? Or are you saying IVF for *everyone* is now an EA cause?