A thought-provoking look at women's health in developing nations! This book shows how war, military regimes, industrialization, urbanization, and social upheaval have all affected the choices Southeast Asian women make about their health and health care. When you read these first-person accounts from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma, you'll be drawn into the lives of women dealing with drastic changes in their societies. The meticulous case studies in this book examine how social, cultural, and economic forces contribute to the way women make personal health care decisions. Women's Health in Mainland Southeast Asia offers a thought-provoking look into the lives of women in this developing part of the world. Topics addressed in Women's Health in Mainland Southeast Asia include: a proposed new approach to women's health, where treatment is determined by society, culture, and gender rather than by biology alone the relationship between menstruation and other aspects of life for Burmese women the politics of abortion in Thailand the difficulties of seeking care for reproductive tract infections in Vietnam the influence of local culture on the treatment of reproductive health problems in northeast Thailand occupational health hazards faced by women working in the electronics industry in northern Thailand the links between migration, sex work, and HIV/AIDS among female garment factory workers in Cambodia

The issue of abortion forces a confrontation with the effects of poverty and economic inequalities, local moral worlds, and the cultural and social perceptions of the female body, gender, and reproduction. Based on extensive original field research, this provocative collection presents case studies from Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. It includes powerful insight into the conditions and hard choices faced by women and the circumstances surrounding unplanned pregnancies. It explores the connections among poverty, violence, barriers to access, and the politics and strategies involved in abortion law reform. The contributors analyze these issues within the broader conflicts surrounding women's status, gender roles, religion, nationalism and modernity, as well as the global politics of reproductive health.

In Thailand, infertility remains a source of stigma for those couples that combine a range of religious, traditional and high-tech interventions in their quest for a child. This book explores this experience of infertility and the pursuit and use of assisted reproductive technologies by Thai couples. Though using assisted reproductive technologies is becoming more acceptable in Thai society, access to and choices about such technologies are mediated by differences in class position. These stories of women and men in private and public infertility clinics reveal how local social and moral sensitivities influence the practices and meanings of treatment.

The issue of abortion forces a confrontation with the effects of poverty and economic inequalities, local moral worlds, and the cultural and social perceptions of the female body, gender, and reproduction. Based on extensive original field research, this provocative collection presents case studies from Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. It includes powerful insight into the conditions and hard choices faced by women and the circumstances surrounding unplanned pregnancies. It explores the connections among poverty, violence, barriers to access, and the politics and strategies involved in abortion law reform. The contributors analyze these issues within the broader conflicts surrounding women's status, gender roles, religion, nationalism and modernity, as well as the global politics of reproductive health.

Andrea Whittaker is Associate Professor in the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia. Her previous publications include Intimate Knowledge: Women and their health in North-east Thailand (2000), Women's Health in South-east Asia (edited, 2002) and Abortion, Sin, and the State in Thailand (2004). Her current research interests focus on infertility and reproductive tourism and medical travel in Thailand and the region.

This book discusses abortion in a non-Western, non-Christian context - in Thailand, where over 300,000 illegal abortions are performed each year by a variety of methods. The book, based on extensive original research in the field, examines a wide range of issues, including stories of the real-life dilemmas facing women, popular representations of abortion in the media, the history of the debate in Thailand and its links to politics. Overall, the work highlights the voices of women and their subjective experiences and perceptions of abortion, and places these 'women's stories' in an analysis of broader socio-political gender and power relations that structure sexuality and women's reproductive health decisions.

During the last two decades, a new form of trade in commercial surrogacy grew across Asia. Starting in India, a "disruptive" model of surrogacy offered mass availability, rapid accessibility, and created new demands for surrogacy services from people who could not afford or access surrogacy elsewhere. In International Surrogacy as Disruptive Industry in Southeast Asia, Andrea Whittaker traces the development of this industry and its movement across Southeast Asia following a sequence of governmental bans in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia. Through a case study of the industry in Thailand, the book offers a nuanced and sympathetic examination of the industry from the perspectives of the people involved in it: surrogates, intended parents, and facilitators. The industry offers intended parents the opportunity to form much desired families, but also creates vulnerabilities for all people involved. These vulnerabilities became evident in cases of trafficking, exploitation, and criminality that emerged in southeast Asia, leading to greater scrutiny on the industry as a whole. Yet the trade continues in new flexible hybrid forms, involving the circulation of reproductive gametes, embryos, surrogates, and ova donors across international borders to circumvent regulations. The book demonstrates the need for new forms of regulation to protect those involved in international surrogacy arrangements.

During the last two decades, a new form of trade in commercial surrogacy grew across Asia. Starting in India, a "disruptive" model of surrogacy offered mass availability, rapid accessibility, and created new demands for surrogacy services from people who could not afford or access surrogacy elsewhere. In International Surrogacy as Disruptive Industry in Southeast Asia, Andrea Whittaker traces the development of this industry and its movement across Southeast Asia following a sequence of governmental bans in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia. Through a case study of the industry in Thailand, the book offers a nuanced and sympathetic examination of the industry from the perspectives of the people involved in it: surrogates, intended parents, and facilitators. The industry offers intended parents the opportunity to form much desired families, but also creates vulnerabilities for all people involved. These vulnerabilities became evident in cases of trafficking, exploitation, and criminality that emerged in southeast Asia, leading to greater scrutiny on the industry as a whole. Yet the trade continues in new flexible hybrid forms, involving the circulation of reproductive gametes, embryos, surrogates, and ova donors across international borders to circumvent regulations. The book demonstrates the need for new forms of regulation to protect those involved in international surrogacy arrangements.

Although abortion remains one of the most controversial issues of our age, to date most studies have centered on the debate in Western countries. This book discusses abortion in a non-Western, non-Christian context - in Thailand, where, although abortion is illegal, over 200,000 to 300,000 abortions are performed each year by a variety of methods. The book, based on extensive original research in the field, examines a wide range of issues, including stories of the real-life dilemmas facing women, popular representations of abortion in the media, the history of the debate in Thailand and its links to politics. Overall, the work both highlights the voices of women and their subjective experiences and perceptions of abortion, and in addition places these 'women's stories' in an analysis of broader socio-political gender and the power relations - national and international - that structure sexuality and women's reproductive health decisions.

A thought-provoking look at women's health in developing nations! This book shows how war, military regimes, industrialization, urbanization, and social upheaval have all affected the choices Southeast Asian women make about their health and health care. When you read these first-person accounts from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma, you'll be drawn into the lives of women dealing with drastic changes in their societies. The meticulous case studies in this book examine how social, cultural, and economic forces contribute to the way women make personal health care decisions. Women's Health in Mainland Southeast Asia offers a thought-provoking look into the lives of women in this developing part of the world. Topics addressed in Women's Health in Mainland Southeast Asia include: a proposed new approach to women's health, where treatment is determined by society, culture, and gender rather than by biology alone the relationship between menstruation and other aspects of life for Burmese women the politics of abortion in Thailand the difficulties of seeking care for reproductive tract infections in Vietnam the influence of local culture on the treatment of reproductive health problems in northeast Thailand occupational health hazards faced by women working in the electronics industry in northern Thailand the links between migration, sex work, and HIV/AIDS among female garment factory workers in Cambodia