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NEW TO THIS EDITION: Key themes and theoretical orientation have been expanded to reflect developments in the field including the concept of ambivalence and increased attention to how what happens inside families relates to what happens outside them. Each chapter begins with questions to consider to guide readers' their learning as they pay attention to the critical issues. New discussion of current issues on research and policy. Chapters have been reorganized for emphasis and to bring clarity to the flow of ideas. The long-term intimate ties of middle-aged and older persons - spouse or partner, gay or straight - are explored in Chapters 3 and 4. The chapter on transitions in intimate relationships is now two chapters: Chapter 5 on transitions in intimate ties and Chapter 7 on new opportunities for intimacy in later life. Other intimate relationships and opportunities, including cohabitation, LAT (living apart together) and dating are discussed in Chapter 7. The growing complexity of family ties over the life course and the changing realities of what it is to be single or childless are examined. Discussion of the family lives of gay and lesbian middle-aged and older persons throughout in order to be deliberately inclusive regarding all aspects of family life rather than isolating the family ties of gay and lesbian persons in a separate chapter. Updated discussion of a range of research and policy issues as they relate to understanding and supporting complex and diverse family ties in the later stages of life. KEY FEATURES: Weaves the vast range of information about the many facets of family relationships and aging into a critical, comprehensive, and integrated whole. Explores a range of intimate relationships, what happens when they end, and pathways to intimacy in old age. Emphasizes diversity in terms of gender, age, class, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation throughout to help readers learn about similarities and differences in family relationships as we age. Links the discussion of various family relationships in mid- and later life to current and future directions for research, practice, and policy. Chapters and sections end with a summary and conclusion, and quotes from various sources are used throughout to bring concepts to life.

Older people --- Middle-age --- Family relationships --- Families. --- Family relationships.

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The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online.Growing numbers of women around the world are now accessing social egg freezing: a fertility extension technology which is enabling some women to extend their fertility and reproductive timelines when faced with age-related fertility decline. This book explores the accounts and experiences of some of the pioneering users of this technology in the UK and the USA.Drawing on theories and concepts across medical sociology and parenting culture studies, as well as literature from demography, anthropology, law, and bioethics, this book examines women's motivations and experiences of social egg freezing in the context of debates surrounding reproductive choice and delayed motherhood. The book also delves into the broader sociological questions raised by this technology in relation to the gendered burden of appropriately timed parenthood, the medicalisation of women's bodies in the reproductive domain and the further entrenchment of the geneticisation of society. It also considers the sexual politics underpinning the timing of parenthood, relationship formation and progression, and the way in which reproductive and parenting ideals, values and expectations can come in to conflict with the biological and relational realities of women's lives.

Reproductive technology. --- Ovum --- Infertility, Female --- Fertility, Human. --- Pregnancy in middle age. --- Childbirth in middle age. --- Social Science --- Society & social sciences. --- Cryopreservation. --- Treatment. --- Women's Studies. --- Human fertility --- Natality --- Demography --- Human reproduction --- Infertility --- Female infertility --- Female sterility --- Sterility, Female --- Generative organs, Female --- Sterilization of women --- Egg (Cytology) --- Egg cell --- Female gamete --- Oocyte --- Ovocyte --- Secondary oocyte --- Gametes --- ART (Assisted reproductive technology) --- Assisted reproduction --- Assisted reproductive technology --- Reproduction --- Reproductive techniques --- Biotechnology --- Middle age --- Diseases --- Technological innovations