Saturday 10th April 2.00pm-4.30pm
Wanting a Child?
Desire for Family and Clinic of Filiations
Currently, it is estimated that nearly one in every eight couples struggle to conceive. Incredible as it may seem to us today, infertility was once considered a divine judgement, a judgement from God, rather than a medical matter. However, at the turn of the 19th century science advanced and began to explore the possibilities of infertility interventions. Consequently, as Dominique Holvoet in his presentation for PIPOL 10 states, “‘technological interventions in human life have thus produced ‘increasingly numerous and surprising disruptions in the fields of procreation, gender and filiations’”.[1]
For many, conceiving a child is an exciting event based on a desire to create life. Commenting on Lacan’s “Note on the Child”, Daniel Roy writes that “to the question of what is passed on in a family, Lacan’s answer is an embodied desire, not an anonymous one”.[2]
Where infertility is an issue and procreation methods open up possibilities of conception, this desire is even stronger. As Francois Ansermet writes, “One can go from desiring to wanting and from there turn the possible into an obligation, a duty”.[3]
In whatever way a child is conceived, whether from modern scientific and technological methods or from a simple sexual relationship, as Dominique Holvoet reminds us “the living Cbeing that results will always bear the imprint of the sign that saw it born as a speaking body, [the] enigma of its coming into the world, [the]mystery of the union of speech and body….”.[4]
Wanting a Child? Desire for Family and Clinic of Filiations” is a theme that concerns everyone. We extend a warm welcome to all as we look forward to an interesting encounter and a lively discussion.
Guest speakers: Dr Lyuda Shkrobot (Fertility Specialist), Dr Lucia Hartigan (Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist), Deborah Brock (CEO of Nua Fertility), Maria Cristina Aguirre (Psychoanalyst and Psychologist in New York), Alan Rowan (Psychoanalyst in Berlin), Ros Mc Carthy (Psychoanalyst in Kildare), Nuala Jackson (Senior Counsel, Barrister)
[1]Wanting a Child? Desire for Family and Clinic of Filiations. www.pipol10.eu. Brussels2020 (accessed 24 March 2021). [2] Roy, D., Introduction to ‘Note on the Child’, in The Lacanian Review No.4, January 2018 [3] Ansermet, F., The Art of Making Children. The New World of Assisted Reproductive Technology. .London:Karnac 2015. [4] Wanting a Child? Desire for Family and Clinic of Filiations. www.pipol10.eu. Brussels2020 (accessed 24 March 2021)
***********
FREE & OPEN TO ALL - Book your place: register@iclo-nls.org
SPEAKERS
