Childlessness in Bangladesh

<p>This book examines the intersectionality and stratified lived experience of rural poor and urban middle-class childless women in Bangladesh.</p><p>Childless women in Bangladesh an over-populated country where fertility control is the primary focus of health policy are all but non-existent. Papreen Nahar offers an alarming account of stigma abuse ostracism and violence against these women sharing their experiences of marginalisation in a culture that idealises motherhood. In such a reality the experience of childlessness particularly for women can be much more severe than what is defined as ‘infertility’ in the biomedical sense. As childlessness is a complex interaction between biology society and culture the book illustrates the ways in which infertility transforms a health problem into social suffering. Although Bangladeshi childless women are systematically excluded by various structural forces it appears they do not succumb to their circumstances; rather they develop resilience and agency to become survivors of their new albeit bleak lives. </p><p>The volume will be of interest to scholars working in anthropology reproductive and women’s health global health gender studies development studies and Asian studies.</p>