Research Symposium

BIO

Jadyn Forman is a senior at FSU. She is majoring in anthropology, minoring in chemistry, and hoping to go to medical school. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, 1910 Honorary, and Order of Omega. She has served as Vice President of Academic Excellence and Director of Academic Enrichment for the Gamma Beta chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta, along with many other leadership positions across multiple student organizations. Her previous research experience includes a second-author publication in the American Journal of Human Biology, completing the FSU UROP program, an internship at the Florida Department of Health, and being a member of the Social Health and Immunology Research Lab. She is presenting on the project she completed as part of the FSU Honors in the Major program and she hopes to continue this work while earning her Master's of Science in Medical Anthropology.

Goal-Setting, Sense of Self, and Sense of Womanhood in Undergraduate Women with Fertility Issues

Abstract

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13.4% of women in the US have impaired fertility. While one may become aware of possible fertility problems at any age, the mental impact of infertility have mainly only been studied in people who are actively trying to conceive children or already have children. This has left a knowledge gap of the impact that an infertility diagnosis or suspicions can have on undergraduate women. College is a critical time in a person’s identity formation and life goal setting, both of which can be heavily influenced by fertility knowledge. I am conducting a qualitative study at Florida State University that examines the repercussions of infertility on undergraduate women's goal setting, sense of self, and sense of womanhood . I predict that women who are interested in having children but are aware they may face infertility will choose majors based on high income potential, seek to maximize their career opportunities by formulating post-graduation trajectories that emphasize career stability and rapid growth/advancement, and be more selective in their romantic partners in order to maximize their changes of having children, whether through assisted fertility or adoption. Additionally, I predict that knowledge of infertility will have a negative impact on the sense-of-self and sense-of-womanhood in undergraduate women, but this effect will be proportional to their desire to have children. This project will lead to a greater understanding of women's health and the impact of infertility outside of the ability to have children.

Keywords: Anthropology, Infertility, Women's Health, Gynecology