Seeking Resolution

Abstract

This final analysis chapter focuses on how the participants constructed their experiences post-IVF and, in particular, the material-discursive work they performed in order to facilitate closure around the engagement with treatment and to imagine new life paths. It is important to note that the failure of what eventually turns out to be the final cycle of treatment does not necessarily coincide with the decision to end treatment, which may come several months or even years later, if at all. Furthermore, the recognition of the end of treatment, whether voluntarily or involuntarily arrived at, does not necessarily coincide with (or inevitably lead to) the transition from identifying as childless to identifying as childfree — that is, a life that has ceased to be defined by the lack of children. Consequently, the transition from being ‘not yet pregnant’ (Daniluk 1996) to ‘not going to be pregnant’ should be seen as a long, complex process rather than an identifiable transitional moment, and none of these transitions are assured. Furthermore, this should not be seen as a linear progression since people move backwards and forwards between stages at different times of their lives.