Introduction

The introduction to the book speaks in broad terms about the shape of the book itself, while also speaking to the importance of stories in how we speak about infertility. I argue here that infertility, as much as being a diagnosis, is a story that we tell and one that provides meaning to the diagnosis. The goal of this chapter is to explain why infertility is being studied in texts rather than as a medical or sociological phenomenon, which, of course, infertility is. But by focusing on stories, I pay attention to how people speak about their experiences (or the experiences of others) and infertility.