Hormoner i folkhemmet

Om endokrinologin, sterilitetsproblemet och befolkningsfrågan

Abstract

In the current historiography of the early Swedish welfare state the so-called sterilisation programme, which was established in the 1930s in accordance with the premises of racial hygiene, plays a prominent role. The aim of the present essay is to highlight and analyse ideas about what may be looked upon as the counterpart of sterilisation: medical practices in order to cure sterility. Furthermore, the essay explores the connection between such ideas and the population debate of the 1930s and 1940s, when not only voluntarily but also involuntarily childless marriages were considered as a threat against the nation. The analysis is based mainly on articles written by the respected gynaecologist and endocrinologist Axel Westman, who conceptualised sterility as a hormonal imbalance and argued that hormone therapy could be of great significance for the treatment of this diagnosis and thereby for society.