Chapter 4: How can the Diversity of Human Lives be Expressed using TEM?: Depicting the Experiences and Choices of Infertile Women Unable to Conceive After Infertility Treatment

In this chapter, I present a general overview of an analysis of the diversity of experiences and choices of infertile women who unsuccessfully underwent infertility treatment using a qualitative method based on Trajectory Equifinality Modeling (TEM). I first explain the social background of infertility. Then, I indicate a way in which infertile women’s narratives can be understood and presented. Finally, I present a concrete example of research using the method of TEM.

In Japan, infertility had been defined as the state in which couples do not conceive a child for two years even though they try to become pregnant and have sexual relations. But the definition of the term was changed to one year based on late birth of recent years in 2015. At present, in Japan, approximately one couple in six or seven is infertile. The progress and spread of infertility treatment greatly benefit infertile couples. The main infertility treatment includes hormone therapy, induction of ovulation, immunotherapy, artificial insemination with the husband’s sperm/donor sperm (AIH/AID), in vitro fertilization–embryo transfer (IVF-ET), and microinsemination. Artificial insemination with donor sperm (AID) started in 1949 and was first conducted in secret. In 1997, AID was officially sanctioned by Japan’s Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. However, due to a lack of legislation concerning the legal bloodlines of children born through this procedure, many parents have kept their use of AID secret.