Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications
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ItemSaviours and satyrs: ambivalence in narrative meanings of sperm provision(Taylor & Francis, 2004)This paper reports on the complex representations of sperm providers in the narratives of donors, recipients and offspring involved in donor-assisted conception. Eighty-seven volunteers from Australia, Canada, UK, USA and Argentina participated in qualitative narrative research. Sperm provision was perceived to be publicly represented as sexualised, provoking both disgust and hilarity; this is interpreted as arising from its association with masturbation and the metaphorical representation of the donor sperm as cuckolding the recipient's husband. Recipients' representations of providers were found to mix gratitude with resentment, embarassment, and anxiety; their constructions are strongly influenced by the position of the social father. The complex representation of the provider as a genetic father is considered: providers can be seen as threatening the integrity of parents if they become involved in the life of their offspring and abandoning their offspring to confusion and despair if they do not. The research demonstrates that, in spite of its relative frequency and familiarity, donor insemination is still represented ambivalently, including by those who may be said to benefit from it.
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ItemTemperament and behaviour of infants aged 4-12 months on admission to a private mother-baby unit and at one- and six-month follow-up( 2004)While infant behaviour is influenced by maternal care, infant crying and dysregulated sleep can reciprocally affect maternal mood. The temperament and behaviour of two 4 – 12-months-old infant cohorts admitted with their mothers to a residential parenting program were examined using behaviour charts and the Short Infant Temperament Questionnaire (SITQ). One group was re-assessed one and six months later. Infant temperament was significantly more difficult than population norms and most had dysregulated sleep. One month after treatment, total infant crying and fussing, frequency of night-time waking,and sleep and feeding dysregulation were significantly (p5<.001) reduced, with change sustained at six months. Easy-Difficult scores (SITQ) were stable and significantly worse than population norms. The contribution of a ‘‘difficult’’ infant temperament to maternal mood disorder warrants further investigation.
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ItemUptake of offer to receive genetic information about BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in an Australian population-based study(American Association for Cancer Research, 2004)Research on the utilization of genetic testing services for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 has focused on women with a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. We conducted a population-based case-control-family study of Australian women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer before age 40 years, unselected for family history, and tested for germ line mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Case subjects found to carry a deleterious mutation and their relatives who had given a research blood sample were informed by mail that the study had identified “genetic information” and were offered the opportunity to learn more. Those interested were referred to a government-funded family cancer clinic. Of 94 subjects who received the letter, 3 (3%) did not respond and 38 (40%) declined to learn their result (16 declined the referral, 10 accepted but did not attend a clinic, and 12 attended a clinic but declined testing), and 12 (13%) remain “on hold”. The remaining 41 (44%) chose to learn their result (3 of whom already knew their mutation status). There was no evidence that the decision to learn of mutation status depended on age, gender, family history, or having been diagnosed with breast cancer. Of 19 families with more than one participant, in 11 (58%) there was discordance between relatives in receiving genetic results.