Antega South Africa · Learning Videos
Filmmaker Molatelo Mainetje-Bossman speaks about the social and cultural side of infertility in African communities, including silence, stigma and family expectations.
Antega South Africa covers medical schemes, clinics, medicines and load shedding, but fertility difficulty is also a social experience. In this talk the award-winning filmmaker Molatelo Mainetje-Bossman draws on the stories she has documented to describe what many people meet outside the consulting room: questions from relatives, expectations about when a couple should have children, and the loneliness of not being able to talk openly. Some people may experience blame or pressure from family or community, and infertility is still sometimes assumed to be the woman's problem when in practice a male factor is involved in a large share of cases. Her account is one perspective on a set of experiences that vary widely between families, communities and languages in South Africa, and it is not a description of what all South Africans or all African cultures believe.
This is a personal and cultural account, not clinical guidance. If you are struggling with how people around you talk about your fertility, our emotional wellbeing and relationships guides suggest practical wording and where counselling is available in South Africa.
Use these guides for general background, and check the South Africa organisations named on this page for local detail.
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Clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues talks about the emotional side of donor conception, including how some people come to terms with not having a genetic link to their child.
This video was produced by Fertility Show Africa Expert Talks (programme curated with IFAASA and SASREG) and is shared for education only. It is not medical advice and does not replace guidance from your own doctor or fertility clinic. Naming an organisation does not imply a partnership with Antega.
