{"id":4887,"date":"2014-04-30T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T19:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/citings\/?p=4887"},"modified":"2015-10-13T13:34:22","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:34:22","slug":"infertility-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2014\/04\/30\/infertility-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"“Brown Eggs” and the Hush-Hush Infertility Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by woodleywonderworks via Flickr Creative Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the New York Times<\/em><\/a>, research from everyone from the Department of Health and Human Services to the CDCP, National Survey of Family Growth, the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation<\/a>, and black women themselves shows that, despite centuries’ old stereotypes and even fears that black women are particularly fertile, well, they’re not. In fact, married black women have twice<\/em> the odds of infertility than\u00a0white married women, but it’s rarely talked about.<\/p>\n

Regina Townsend of thebrokenbrownegg.org<\/a> tells the Times<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“With women of color, specifically Hispanic and African-American women, the stigma attached to us is that it\u2019s not hard to have kids, and that we have a lot of kids,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re the one that can\u2019t, you feel like, \u2018I\u2019ve failed.’\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of the disparity in seeking treatment for infertility comes from differing health networks (see our recent piece with Brian Southwell<\/a> for more on that) and some from differing financial positions (see decades upon decades of research on the wealth gap<\/a> between black and white U.S. citizens). That is, black women seem less likely to talk to other women, their gynecologists, and their faith communities about fertility (or a lack thereof),\u00a0and<\/em> they’re less likely to have the resources—financial, medical, and network-wise—to seek infertility treatment.<\/p>\n

Part of the problem, said Arthur L. Greil<\/a>, a sociologist at Alfred University in western New York who has studied infertility and women of color, is that middle-class white women tend to have the confidence and connections to navigate the health care system better than less affluent minority women.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even further, since fibroids (benign tumors that can significantly affect fertility) are more prevalent among black women and black women take longer to reach out for fertility advice, problems are compounded by time. Fertility drops naturally over the years, of course, but Dr. David B. Seifer said:<\/p>\n

…fibroids [are] just one of various \u201ccultural issues, biological issues and social issues\u201d black women face that can affect their fertility. He said black women often waited longer to seek a diagnosis of or treatment for infertility, which \u201cgives all of these other biological factors more time to become more severe.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Cariesha Tate Singleton told the article’s author, she knows she’s up against a\u00a0stereotype that women like her are naturally \u201cbaby-producing machines.\u201d Groups like\u00a0Fertility for Colored Girls<\/a>\u00a0are working to change that notion.<\/p>\n