Nicky Hudson

De Montfort University, Applied Social Sciences, Faculty Member

De Montfort University, Leicester, UK), Reproduction Research Group, Lead

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Address: Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

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Papers by Nicky Hudson

Oocyte cryopreservation for social reasons: demographic profile and disposal intentions of UK users

by Kylie Baldwin and Nicky Hudson

Whilst a small number of research studies from the USA and Europe has provided some data on the p... more Whilst a small number of research studies from the USA and Europe has provided some data on the profile and characteristics of women who have undergone oocyte freezing for what has been termed elective, social, or non medical reasons, to date very little is known in a UK context about which women are undergoing oocyte freezing or their reproductive intentions and actions following the procedure. Drawing on data derived from an exploratory study of 23 UK resident women who had undergone social oocyte freezing, this paper discusses the demographic profile of these women, their reproductive intentions and actions as well as their attitudes and intentions towards their frozen oocytes should they never require them in treatment. This research found that at the time of freezing their oocytes women were on average aged 36.7 (range 32-44 years), were university educated with 65% of the sample holding further postgraduate or professional qualifications, 57% of the participants were in professional employment. All of the participants identified as heterosexual and 87% were not in a relationship at the time of freezing their oocytes. The overwhelming majority (87%) of the participants stated that they would donate their unwanted oocytes to research or to other women for use in fertility treatment should they never require them.

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Reproductive technology and the life course: current debates and research in social egg freezing

by Kylie Baldwin and Nicky Hudson

Whilst there are currently few confirmed births from previously frozen eggs in the UK, the improv... more Whilst there are currently few confirmed births from previously frozen eggs in the UK, the improved outcomes of new technologies of vitrification and Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have led to the marketing of egg freezing for non-medical reasons, whereby women are offered the possibility of preserving their eggs until such time as they wish to have a child. Non-academic commentary on this phenomenon has commonly constructed it within a neo-liberal discourse of 'choice', whereby women are positioned as choosing to 'delay motherhood,' often for reasons relating to their careers. However, there have been relatively few research studies which explore either women's awareness and understandings of social egg freezing or the reasons why women consider or undertake egg freezing. This paper summarises the current academic discussion surrounding social egg freezing and outlines the limited body of empirical literature identified from a systematic search of relevant databases. The potential benefits and harms of social egg freezing and the ethical issues it raises are well rehearsed in existing literature, but there is limited empirical evidence about who is accessing social egg freezing, why they are taking this option and what their experiences and future intentions are.

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'Knock knock, you’re my mummy’: anonymity, identification and gamete donation in British South Asian communities.

Cross-border reproductive travel.

Since 1978, five million babies have been born via IVF and its related technologies. However, pol... more Since 1978, five million babies have been born via IVF and its related technologies. However, political and cultural differences between nations and the unequal global spread of Assistive Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) means that the access that individuals have to medicalised solutions to childlessness varies internationally. In response to this variability, cross-border reproductive travel appears to have burgeoned in recent years, though accurate assessment of its extent remains a challenge. This chapter provides a brief overview of the current knowledge on cross-border fertility travel before presenting empirical findings from a qualitative UK study about the experiences of British residents who travel abroad to seek access to ARTs. The ‘Transrep’ study sought to address some of these gaps and this chapter summarises key findings from the study regarding the profile of UK fertility travellers, their motivations, destinations and experiences. These data demonstrate that in a country like the UK, where there is largely liberal and inclusive regulation surrounding access to fertility treatment, the reasons for and direction of patient travel are complex and diverse. Cross-border reproductive travel, a phenomenon at the intersection of kinship, science, politics and commerce, presents a very particular set of ethical and legal dilemmas.

Assisted Infertility and assisted conception: what do midwives need to know?

Infertility, gamete donation and relatedness in British South Asian communities.

“For him, it’s got to be your own son”: adoption and infertility in British South Asian communities.

‘Commonalities, differences and possibilities: culture and infertility in British South Asian communities’

‘Introduction: Ethnicity, infertility and assisted reproductive technologies’

‘Young People and Research Participation’

Diverse bodies and disrupted reproduction: infertility and minority ethnic communities in the UK.

An extensive collection of studies of infertility present the condition as a devastating experien... more An extensive collection of studies of infertility present the condition as a devastating experience with significant consequences for social and psychological well-being. However, research in the UK and Europe has mostly been carried out with middle class, white treatment-seekers and consistently ignored non-treatment seekers, those accessing treatments other than IVF, those in lower socioeconomic groups and those from 'non-white' ethnic groups. Inequalities in health between and within ethnic groups have become an increasing focus of research in Britain. However, studies of ethnicity and reproduction have tended to concentrate on childbirth and contraception rather than infertility. The understanding that different ethnic and religious groups give to the experience of infertility has been largely ignored by researchers. This paper reports on the findings from the first study of the impact of social norms and cultural traditions on attitudes to infertility among British South Asian communities, funded by the UK Department of Health. The research project was designed to explore the impact of ethnic, cultural and religious issues on access to, and experiences of, infertility services. The first phase of the study demonstrated the social necessity of children in South Asian communities; the ways in which infertility can function as social control and the highly gendered nature of the repercussions and social backlash associated with infertility. This paper discusses the findings from the second phase of the study involving interviews with 50 women and men from four South Asian communities (Gujarati Hindu, Punjabi Sikh, Bangladeshi Muslim and Pakistani Muslim) in three English cities. It explores the influence of culture, language and religion on the experience of involuntary childlessness and its treatment and the extent to which information needs, communication needs and emotional support needs are met by service providers.

Using focus groups with minority ethnic communities: researching infertility in British South Asian communities.

by Nicky Hudson and Frances Rapport

Little attention has been given to the specific methodological issues that can accompany the use ... more Little attention has been given to the specific methodological issues that can accompany the use of focus groups with minority ethnic communities in the United Kingdom. In this article, the authors discuss the use of this method in a study of the provision of infertility services to South Asian communities in three English cities. Focus groups are an invaluable research method for working in a diverse linguistic and cultural environment, providing interesting, rich, and complex data. However, their use can raise significant methodological and ethical challenges for researchers working with minority ethnic communities. The authors discuss key issues that arose in their exploration of ethnicity and infertility around language and cultural diversity, the role of community facilitators, access and recruitment, infertility as a "sensitive" topic, and reciprocity in research relations.

‘There’s always talk – “aren’t you gonna have a baby?”’: South Asian couples and Infertility.

“I know about one treatment where they keep the egg somewhere”: British South Asian community understandings of infertility and its treatment.

by Nicky Hudson and Frances Rapport

Involuntary childlessness can be a devastating experience for many women and men. The true preval... more Involuntary childlessness can be a devastating experience
for many women and men. The true
prevalence of infertility is difficult to determine.
However, an estimated one in seven couples in the
UKwill seekhelp in conceiving a child at some point
in their lives. New reproductive technologies have
dramatically changed the prospects for many subfertile
couples, with the range of treatments increasing
substantially in the past 20 years. Little is known,
however, about ethnic differences in attitudes to
fertility treatment. This paper discusses some findings
from the first major study of ethnicity and
infertility to be carried out in the UK, which
explored the experience of infertility in British
South Asian communities. The emphasis in this
article is on community understandings of fertility
and infertility and its causes; knowledge of and
attitudes towards medical treatments for infertility;
and ‘alternative’ sources of help for sub-fertile
couples. In contrast to a ‘deficit’ model of the public
understanding of science/technology, the data demonstrate
the existence of a range of knowledges
about potential causes of infertility and about
treatments available to help sub-fertile couples. A
case is made for raising the profile of infertility
treatment within South Asian communities. At the
same time, health professionals would benefit from
an awareness of the broader social context of reproductive
technologies. Public space needs to be created
for the development of a relationship of dialogue
between practitioners of the technologies and members
of the lay public in a diverse range of sociocultural
settings.

Public understandings of science. British South Asian men's perceptions of third party assisted conception.

Critics of the deficit model of the public understanding of science and technology have insisted ... more Critics of the deficit model of the public understanding of science and technology have insisted on the importance of conceiving of a plurality of ‘publics’ and a need to identify the local contexts of public engagement with science and technology. However, there has been a noticeable lack of attention to the perceptions of ‘hard to reach’ groups in science research and debate, especially the views of minority ethnic communities. This paper examines this ‘silence’ in the research literature that has addressed the public understanding of new reproductive technologies (NRTs). Presenting data from a study of public perceptions of egg and sperm donation in British South Asian communities, the paper explores the impact of cultural and religious contexts on this process. Findings are presented from focus group discussions carried out with 37 British men of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic origin. The paper argues that participants actively interpret new reproductive technologies in general, and gamete donation in particular, as a process which raises many personal dilemmas and has potentially damaging consequences for wider social relations. It explores these in the context of specific culturally inscribed notions of the procreative body and wider social relationships.

‘“Public” perceptions of gamete donation: a research review.

by Nicky Hudson and Frances Rapport

This paper reviews the literature on "public" perceptions of the practice of gamete (egg and sper... more This paper reviews the literature on "public" perceptions of the practice of gamete (egg and sperm) donation in the treatment of infertility. Despite regular "consultation" exercises in the UK on the manner in which infertility treatments should be regulated, there is little sense of how a range of public groups respond to developments in this area. The key themes from thirty-three articles, chapters and reports are discussed. The review reveals the limited nature of our current knowledge of public understandings of and attitudes towards gamete donation as a form of infertility treatment which has been readily available and widely practiced for many years. The review is critical of the methodological and epistemological basis of much of the work in this area and argues that there is a strong case for social scientific research to attempt to capture the perceptions of a wider range of people who are rarely included in formal public consultations and often similarly excluded from research studies.

Fertility tourists or global consumers? A sociological agenda for exploring cross-border reproductive travel.

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) raise significant issues at the interface of bodies, te... more Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) raise significant issues at the interface of bodies, technologies and societies and as such there is an extensive literature devoted to infertility and ARTs within psychology, sociology, bioethics and the law. Little of this work however, has addressed the transnational aspects of reproductive technologies. The use of ARTs is subject to the specific contexts of national states, but at the same time global interaction is evident in both the development of the technologies, and in their clinical application. As such, there are indications that, for a variety of reasons, individuals and couples are increasingly travelling abroad from the UK in their quest for a child. Drawing on work from an ESRC funded research project exploring the experiences of couples who are engaged in what is popularly known as ‘fertility tourism’ (RES 000-22-33900), this paper examines key debates and proposes a sociological agenda for exploring the growing phenomenon of the cross-border use of ARTs.

Why do people travel abroad for fertility treatment? What we don’t know.

Crossing borders to create babies: findings from the Transrep study.

A short article written for the Infertility Network UK Magazine

Researching infertility in British South Asian communities: reflecting on intersections of ethnicity, age, gender, and reproductive identity.

This paper explores these relationships of gender and ethnicity within a study of the experience ... more This paper explores these relationships of gender and ethnicity within a study of the experience of infertility among 87 British South Asians, in which the researcher was a woman of white British ethnic origin. Age, gender, language, ethnicity, educational status and reproductive history all played a role in shaping relationships in this study and demonstrate the relational re-production of identity through research interactions. Differently configured ethnic identities between the researcher and the participants played a role in shaping the data collection, but did not appear to have a negative impact on the research. It is argued that the need for 'matching' of researchers and participants by reference to an essentialised understanding of aspects of social difference is flawed, and a more nuanced consideration of this relationship is required among social science researchers.

Nicky Hudson

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