Social and cultural aspects of infertility in Mozambique

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Abstract

Findings of an anthropological study of socio-cultural aspects of infertility among members of the matrilineal ethnic group Macua in the north of Mozambique are presented. Infertile women apply various strategies to have a child. Traditional healers are visited much more often than the modern hospital, and the explanations the infertile women themselves give for their infertility more often originated from the traditional healers than from the hospital staff. Almost all of the interviewed women commit adultery in the hope to conceive. Some of them apply fostering as a partial solution for childlessness. The Macua infertile women experience various consequences due to their infertility, of which exclusion from certain social activities and traditional ceremonies is perceived as a very problematic one. The matrilineal kinship system means that the husband and his family do not mistreat and repudiate her. Infertility must be considered as a serious reproductive health problem in Mozambique. For the long term preventive measures may be more influential than curative one. The findings of this study can be used to elaborate culturally sensitive health education programmes.

Section snippets

Introduction: Genoveva's story

Genoveva is a 34-year-old woman, living in Montepuez, a district capital in the north of Mozambique. She belongs to the Macua, a matrilineal ethnic group. She married her first husband at a very young age, before she went through the initiation rites, held after a girl has her first menstruation. Immediately after her marriage Genoveva became pregnant, but unfortunately this pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Then she decided to divorce, because she suspected that the blood of her husband did not

Study design

The study had a qualitative and explorative character. Explorative, because when starting the research, very little was known about the phenomenon of infertility in Mozambique. Qualitative, as it enabled the researcher to gain in-depth knowledge of the personal experiences of women regarding such a sensitive subject. No representative sample was taken; for details we refer to the report of the study [11].

Data collection

The study was carried out in Montepuez and focused on two neighbourhoods: one, Nacate (8600

Macua culture

The way in which the interviewed women cope with their infertility is very much related to the fact that the Macua have a matrilineal kinship system, i.e. the descent is traced through the mother's line. Having children is a very important event in Macua culture, not only for the parents and other direct relatives, but also for the members of the matrilineage, because children guarantee the continued existence of the matrilineage as a whole [12]. Childlessness is a problem that needs to be

Help-seeking behaviour

All of the interviewed infertile women — except one — had been searching for medical treatment to solve their infertility. All of them visited traditional healers once or several times, while only half of them went to the hospital. The intensity of seeking medical treatment varied a lot, especially with regard to the number of visits paid to the traditional healers. Some women said that they visited `very many, maybe 20 or 30 different traditional healers'. Others had only been once or twice.

Other strategies

Besides looking for a medical solution in one way or another, the women also mentioned two other strategies they used to have a child, namely having extramarital sexual relations and fostering children. Both strategies will be defined briefly.

Implications of infertility in women's lives

The infertile women were asked to compare their own situation with the situation of fertile women. All expressed feelings of sadness and some said they were jealous, especially when they see `... girls with whom I passed the initiation rites looking after their children.' A compound without children is considered a place without pleasure. Some women expressed worry and fear that their family would die out if they did not have children. Women who have only one child foresee problems for that

Conclusions

First of all it may be concluded that infertility is felt to be a huge problem by the women concerned. However, they can not only be described as passive sufferers, as infertile African women are generally depicted in literature. The research findings show that the way in which the women experience their infertility is very much related to the social and cultural context, and especially to the matrilineal kinship structure. Children are of great value to the woman's family. Therefore her family

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