Treating the afflicted body : perceptions of infertility and ethnomedicine among fertile Hmong women in Australia

In this chapter, I explore the cultural interpretation of fertility and infertility among fertile Hmong women from Laos who are now living in Australia. In the Hmong world, having children is essential for parents' well-being, not only in this world but also for the next. Children, particularly sons, carry on the family lineage, look after the elderly parents when they are alive, and worship them when they die.Without sons, deceased parents will not be reincarnated.Without children in the lineage and clans, Hmong society will cease its existence. Fertility is, therefore, a most crucial part of Hmong life. The failure to be fertile has a profound effect on Hmong lineages, clans and society (Symonds, 1991, 1996, 2004; Liamputtong Rice, 2000; Liamputtong and Spitzer, 2007). Infertility also taints women's moral identities. As in many other societies, infertility is seen as unnatural and it is the woman who bears the blame (see for example, Inhorn, 1994a; Neff, 1994; Kielmann, 1998; Prapreen et al, 2000; Riessman, 2000; Matsubayashi et al, 2001; Bharadwaj, 2003; Guntupalli and Chenchelgudem, 2004; Mariano, 2004; Johnson-Hanks, 2006; Donkor and Sandall, 2007; Rashid, 2007; Hollos and Larsen, 2008). I shall demonstrate that in Hmong culture an infertility problem is perceived to be located within the woman's body. The ethnomedical reasons for her 'afflicted body' are many, and treatments are to be found in both the natural and supernatural realms.