Ovarian Stimulation, Body Image and Suffering: A Case Study of a Cameroonian Woman Facing the Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abstract

Ovarian stimulation, a hormonal treatment technique aimed at collecting several oocytes from women for artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, has not sufficiently interested researchers in the human and social sciences, particularly psychopathologists and clinicians. However, this technique, carried out in a prolonged way, induces psychological suffering in some women because of the considerable weight gain. Excess weight is not culturally allowed in women of certain African ethnic groups in the case of infertility. The aim of this article is to show that excess weight caused by hormonal treatment during medically assisted reproduction provokes an anxiety-depression syndrome which is explained on the one hand, by the non-acceptance of one’s body image and on the other hand, by the secrecy of the ART in the infertile African woman. The data of this study were collected from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and from the semi-directive interview; from 4 women aged between 30 and 37 years. The inclusion criteria set up were in favor of those who, after having received hormonal treatment (injections or tablets), had gained considerable weight and complained about their physiology. The content analysis technique in its formal variant led to the conclusion that anxiety-depressive disorders are observed in some obese African women following hormonal treatments in ART. These disorders are explained on the one hand by the self-depreciation reactivated by their infertility and on the other hand by the heavy secrecy to be carried towards their close relations and families on the subject of the ART. Hence the need for psychological follow-up in the various fertility centers concerned.