“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers

(1) Background: Gestational surrogacy is the most common type of surrogacy today. Although technologically well-developed and legal in many countries, it challenges and even contradicts the basic traditional concepts of family, motherhood, and gender roles. In the present study, we examined the type...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Daphna Yeshua-Katz, Natalia Khvorostianov
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	surrogacy surrogate mothers stigma Russia online support coping Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/374d8bbae6ab4588830dd5108a9f8534
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:374d8bbae6ab4588830dd5108a9f8534
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:374d8bbae6ab4588830dd5108a9f85342021-11-11T16:27:59Z“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers10.3390/ijerph1821113251660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/374d8bbae6ab4588830dd5108a9f85342021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11325https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601(1) Background: Gestational surrogacy is the most common type of surrogacy today. Although technologically well-developed and legal in many countries, it challenges and even contradicts the basic traditional concepts of family, motherhood, and gender roles. In the present study, we examined the types of stigma coping strategies surrogate mothers discussed in an online support group in post-Soviet Russia. (2) Method: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of 15,602 posts on a Russian-language online support group for surrogate mothers. (3) Findings: group members discussed four types of coping strategies: stigma internalization, stigma avoidance, group identification, and stigma challenging. Nevertheless, these strategies varied across the surrogate motherhood stages. Group members advised each other on specific strategies to use to cope with the state of discreditable (invisible) stigma (i.e., during the first few months of their pregnancies), with different strategies for when the pregnancies became visible and they risked becoming discredited people. Furthermore, group members disclosed that they used these strategies even when they returned to their previous family and work routines. Theoretically, our findings challenge Goffman’s classic theoretical dichotomy and coping research concerning discreditable (invisible) and discredited (visible) stigma. (4) Conclusion: Our findings indicate that surrogate mothers anticipate experiencing stigma and therefore plan for it by discussing potential coping strategies in the online group. Moreover, any intervention designed to cater to the needs of surrogate mothers must, therefore, take into consideration the social needs of their entire family.Daphna Yeshua-KatzNatalia KhvorostianovMDPI AGarticlesurrogacysurrogate mothersstigmaRussiaonline supportcopingMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11325, p 11325 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	surrogacy surrogate mothers stigma Russia online support coping Medicine R
spellingShingle	surrogacy surrogate mothers stigma Russia online support coping Medicine R Daphna Yeshua-Katz Natalia Khvorostianov “Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
description	(1) Background: Gestational surrogacy is the most common type of surrogacy today. Although technologically well-developed and legal in many countries, it challenges and even contradicts the basic traditional concepts of family, motherhood, and gender roles. In the present study, we examined the types of stigma coping strategies surrogate mothers discussed in an online support group in post-Soviet Russia. (2) Method: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of 15,602 posts on a Russian-language online support group for surrogate mothers. (3) Findings: group members discussed four types of coping strategies: stigma internalization, stigma avoidance, group identification, and stigma challenging. Nevertheless, these strategies varied across the surrogate motherhood stages. Group members advised each other on specific strategies to use to cope with the state of discreditable (invisible) stigma (i.e., during the first few months of their pregnancies), with different strategies for when the pregnancies became visible and they risked becoming discredited people. Furthermore, group members disclosed that they used these strategies even when they returned to their previous family and work routines. Theoretically, our findings challenge Goffman’s classic theoretical dichotomy and coping research concerning discreditable (invisible) and discredited (visible) stigma. (4) Conclusion: Our findings indicate that surrogate mothers anticipate experiencing stigma and therefore plan for it by discussing potential coping strategies in the online group. Moreover, any intervention designed to cater to the needs of surrogate mothers must, therefore, take into consideration the social needs of their entire family.
format	article
author	Daphna Yeshua-Katz Natalia Khvorostianov
author_facet	Daphna Yeshua-Katz Natalia Khvorostianov
author_sort	Daphna Yeshua-Katz
title	“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
title_short	“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
title_full	“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
title_fullStr	“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
title_full_unstemmed	“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers
title_sort	“only my husband and my doctor know. and you, girls”: online discussions of stigma coping strategies for russian surrogate mothers
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/374d8bbae6ab4588830dd5108a9f8534
work_keys_str_mv	AT daphnayeshuakatz onlymyhusbandandmydoctorknowandyougirlsonlinediscussionsofstigmacopingstrategiesforrussiansurrogatemothers AT nataliakhvorostianov onlymyhusbandandmydoctorknowandyougirlsonlinediscussionsofstigmacopingstrategiesforrussiansurrogatemothers
_version_	1718432290474819584

“Only My Husband and My Doctor Know. And You, Girls”: Online Discussions of Stigma Coping Strategies for Russian Surrogate Mothers

Ejemplares similares