The narratives of fertility clinic's websites in Spain

Abstract

One of the important developments in assisted reproductive technology is the technique of oocyte preservation, which enables women to preserve their eggs when there is a threat of becoming infertile in the future. In spite of the still experimental status of this procedure, fertility clinics widely recommend it to healthy women who wish to postpone childbearing for social reasons. Since in fertility clinic's websites appear extensive recommendations and promotion about this technology, it seems important to analyze their online persuasive communication. Our analysis applies a mixed methodology of content and discourse analysis from a framing theory perspective. It provides an in-depth analysis of the content of fertility clinics' websites in Spain, describing their communication/information strategies regarding fertility preservation for social reasons. The present article confirms the inconsistency that exists in terms of the clarity of the information given by these websites, since the information is framed intending to attract more women to the egg freezing services.