An internet forum analysis of stigma power perceptions among women seeking fertility treatment in the United States

Infertility is a condition that affects nearly 30 percent of women aged 25–44 in the United States. Though past research has addressed the stigmatization of infertility, few have done so in the context of stigma management between fertile and infertile women. In order to assess evidence of felt and enacted stigma, we employed a thematic content analysis of felt and enacted stigma in an online infertility forum, Fertile Thoughts, to analyze 432 initial threads by women in various stages of the treatment-seeking process. We showed that infertile women are frequently stigmatized for their infertility or childlessness and coped through a variety of mechanisms including backstage joshing and social withdrawal. We also found that infertile women appeared to challenge and stigmatize pregnant women for perceived immoral behaviors or lower social status. We argue that while the effects of stigma power are frequently perceived and felt in relationships between infertile women and their fertile peers, the direction of the enacted stigma is related to social standing and feelings of fairness and reinforces perceived expressions of deserved motherhood in the United States. •We analyzed the initial threads on an infertility forum to explore stigma power.•We show that infertile women often report “felt” but not “enacted” stigma.•Infertile women denigrated women who were perceived as being overly-fertile.•Infertile women stigmatize fertile women based on moral judgments.•Stigma power is related to norms of deserving/undeserving motherhood.