An interview research regarding women's prenatal testing experiences after assisted reproductive technology

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K17190
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: Iwate Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Kayono 岩手医科大学, 医学部, 特任講師 (90559155)
• Research Collaborator: Fukushima Akimune
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 遺伝カウンセリング / 出生前検査 / 妊婦の経験 / 生殖補助医療 / 自然妊娠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We focused on how women who have experienced NIPT in their daily lives, beyond specific medical situations. The participants were 9 women with natural pregnancies and 6 who underwent assisted reproductive technology. Consequently I gathered narratives which covered a broad range of topics that including many social context and people related to the participants in both study groups. Narratives involving the “husband,” “parents,” and “fetus” were found in all cases and over 90% of our participants mentioned “using the internet.” There were also narratives regarding “relatives,” “friends” and “people at work.” This study suggested that the ramifications of the women's NIPT extended to the entire framework of their complex human relationships. It was patients' unique experiences, such as “threatened miscarriage” rather than the different methods of achieving pregnancy which appeared to have the most impact on the patients.

Free Research Field

遺伝カウンセリング学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

妊婦のNIPT受検経験においては, 家族や周囲の人, 社会といった「他者」が大きな影響をもっていることが明らかとなった。妊娠は妊婦の体内で経験されるごく個人的な出来事であると同時に, 社会との相互作用によって形作られるものでもある。本研究によって参加者を取り巻く社会的な状況, キーパーソンを把握できるとともに, 検査の情報源やNIPTの社会的側面について明らかにできる可能性が示唆された。また, 自然妊娠群と生殖補助医療を受けた群との間では共通するカテゴリが多い一方で, 一人ひとりの語りには個別性が見られたことから妊娠方法によらずクライエントのもつ背景の多様性に目を向けた対応が必要であろう。