It?s next to impossible to flip through the pages of a lifestyle glossy or scroll on social media without being confronted by articles speculating about a celebrity?s baby bump or analyzing their ?post-baby bikini body.? This fascination with famous uteri is an extension of the way we glorify reproduction in our culture at large, and frustratingly, the media?s celebrity pregnancy obsession is narrowing the scope of how pregnancy and fertility are discussed more broadly.
This reproductive surveillance not only perpetuates a culture of obsession with childbearing bodies, it also sweeps much of the physical toll, financial cost and burden under the rug. The result" A huge portion of people trying to conceive are operating under unrealistic expectations, weighed down by guilt and shame, or left out of the conversation entirely. Dr. Lila Hakim, a psychologist and director at Toronto?s Centre for Interpersonal Relationships, says her patients often express a ?confusion around what the norms are? when it comes to conception and fertility, and that confusion can stem from the way fertility is covered in the media.
?It sets up ideas [that the fertility journey doesn?t require] a lot of resources?financially, time-wise, support wise,? Hakim, who specializes in family-building and fertility issues, says. ?Rather than seeing the whole, that sliver [of coverage] creates expectations that people then potentially compare themselves to and say, ?Well, how come that?s not happening fo...