Shattered Schemata and Fragmented Identities: Men's experiences of antenatal genetic screening in Great Britain

DHEENSA, Sandi, WILLIAMS, Bob and METCALFE, Alison (2013). Shattered Schemata and Fragmented Identities: Men's experiences of antenatal genetic screening in Great Britain. Journal of Family Issues, 34 (8), 1081-1103.

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Official URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192513X13...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X13484274

Abstract

While pregnant women's views about antenatal screening have been widely researched, those of expectant fathers remain underexplored. Interviews were thus conducted with 12 men and 6 women, either during pregnancy or soon after birth. Findings suggested that the men started to construct a schema of their child and a paternal identity even before she/he was born. One of the paternal responsibilities men encountered was to participate in screening. However, men's ideas, beliefs, and feelings about being a father and about the future child were challenged by the receipt of screening results. Their child-schema became splintered into a wanted, imagined child and the at-risk fetus. Moreover, their paternal identity became fragmented into genetic and social components. Screening thereby caused some disruption in men's experience of impending fatherhood and of pregnancy, eliciting ambivalence and confusion. Further research is now required to explore the issues raised in the study.

Item Type: Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Centre for Health and Social Care Research
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X13484274
Page Range: 1081-1103
Depositing User: Justine Gavin
Date Deposited: 18 Jul 2018 09:33
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 10:45
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/22004

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