Reproductive bodies as politically contested sites: The Politics of Framing Infertility for the Global Agenda for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Sammanfattning

Recent estimates by the World Health Organization show that one in six people globally experience infertility at some point in their lives. Infertility is a fundamental reproductive health concern affecting an individual's human right to freely decide if, when, and how many children to have. A growing body of literature notes infertility’s absence from the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda, at the same time that global demographic anxieties have elevated infertility into a political issue, with resources and access stratifying reproductive possibilities. This thesis addresses the lack of research on the political process of advocating for infertility within the SRHR agenda, by uncovering the framings employed by global experts in their attempt at elevating infertility within SRHR. Based on a frame analysis of qualitative expert interviews, their infertility framings are traced as part of an agenda-setting process, revealing a pragmatic approach that favours politically advantageous framings over explicitly rights-based ones, as experts navigate larger structural frames. This thesis contributes insight into the political process of agenda-setting and the compromises behind infertility advocacy, opening up further inquiry into the institutions and narratives that shape how infertility reaches the SRHR agenda and fundamentally, whose infertility is addressed.