This article aims to examine the connection between cultural beliefs and the biological processes related to fertility, childbirth, and gender in local communities in Iran through an ethnographic analysis of rituals, prayers, and symbolic systems surrounding reproduction. The research is qualitative in nature, based on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and the analysis of empirical content. Data were collected from various indigenous communities and analyzed through an interpretive approach within the framework of medical anthropology.
Findings reveal that local understandings of fertility, abortion, infertility, and gender are not merely biological, but deeply cultural, spiritual, and symbolic. Concepts such as jinn, talismans, malevolent intentions, or specific prayers play a significant role in explaining reproductive challenges. These beliefs lead women and families to seek not only medical services but also healing rituals, pilgrimages, votive practices, and the use of immaterial resources such as incantations and the sanctification of holy sites in response to infertility or childbirth.
The analysis of postpartum rituals also shows that these practices go beyond physical hygiene, serving to restore psychological, social, and spiritual balance for both mother and child. Furthermore, the child’s gender, its identification or transformation, is perceived as a cultural phenomenon linked to social roles and gender expectations.
The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of integrating modern medical knowledge with the cultural and spiritual understanding of local communities. Policy-making in the field of reproductive health in such contexts requires respect for indigenous knowledge and the establishment of trust-based, culturally informed communication.