Childless Women in Georgia: Between Religious Restrictions and Medical Opportunities.

Abstract

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) are gradually becoming available in Georgia, Georgia, but while the medical technologies are being developed, the Georgian Orthodox Church opposes the idea of having a child through what it declares to be unnatural ways. However, despite the authority of the Church, it is hard for childless women to reject medical assistance and simply come to terms with infertility, especially with the equated roles of a woman and mother, in the Georgian society. This Dissertation demonstrates both sides of the story, on the one hand, through discourse analyses, it shows the face of the “proper” Georgian Woman, and on the other hand, demonstrates the contradictory practices through which childless women find solutions.

The women, dealing with infertility must adjust their abilities in compliance with the broad spectrum of contested institutional restrictions (Religion) and opportunities (Medicine) in order to reach their goal. With once glance it might seem that the main actors interested with the regulation of the reproductive field, the church and medical clinics, are on opposite sides,

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