We go to many exciting conferences and events throughout the year. Fertility Fest, however, is very special in that it bridges the gap between art and science, lay and professional. Infertility as a topic of discussion stirs intense emotions and Fertility Fest provides a very much needed outlet to express such feelings and have conversations about them. Eager to immerse myself in this year\u2019s festival, I attended the Big Fat Festival Day this May. I must also mention here that the 2019 venue, The Barbican Centre, was a fabulous fit and contributed to the convivial atmosphere of the festival.<\/p>\n
When it comes to infertility and IVF treatment, some topics come up more often than others. As such, I would like to focus on the conversations that stood out for me this year \u2013 the conversations that, I thought, were novel and really made me think about some of the more painful and uncomfortable questions. For example, what happens when IVF treatment doesn’t work? When our hopes and dreams disintegrate? How does one re-evaluate their life and choices? How does one grieve? And is there meaning to life beyond having children?<\/p>\n
During the opening session, Lisa Faulkner talked about her personal journey and the decision to adopt. Her experience really conveyed the difficult choices one has to make after several failed rounds of IVF. This issue seems poignant to me, yet seldom discussed. How does one know when to say no when we put so much emphasis on hope and being positive? Lisa talked about her initial reluctance towards adoption \u2013 something that I found refreshing. There are too many people who assume that adopting should be an easy decision for infertile couples, when, in fact, it is not. It was apparent to me that we need to have more conversations about adoption, who it\u2019s for and who it isn\u2019t for.<\/p>\n
The Invisible Man<\/em> was the morning panel that piqued my interest (but, trust me, it was very hard to choose). The focus on men made me reflect on the tough situations that are particular to the male experience of infertility. Elis Matthews talked about being diagnosed with azoospermia and struggling with identity, faith and the meaning of life. The devastation of hearing the word \u2018zero\u2019 (sperm) from a doctor really drove home how insensitive some medical encounters can be. Elis, however, admiringly managed to find humour in the situation. Men talked more generally about having to deal with tough questions about meaning and fulfilment \u2013 questions that they had to confront because of their experience with infertility. As a woman, I was moved to hear actor and writer Rod Silvers talk about feeling that he had failed his partner when he found out he might not be able to \u2018provide\u2019 her with biological children. I wondered if we really understand what infertility means for a couple as a unit, not just individually.<\/p>\n The highlight of the day, for me, however, was the premiere of Irina Vodar\u2019s documentary Anything You Lose:<\/em> a movie that intimately captures her infertility journey over 7 years. The camera follows Irina and her husband to multiple clinics, documenting their pursuit of parenthood. Heartbreaking moments of disappointment invite the viewer to reflect on the emotional toll that infertility takes on couples. Echoing the questions I outlined above, Irina\u2019s story forces her and the audience to ponder the meaning of life without children and what we do when things don’t go the way we planned. What I appreciated most about Anything You Lose<\/em> it that it doesn\u2019t fall into Hollywood clich\u00e9s about infertility. It doesn\u2019t gloss over the complex medical procedures and decisions that patients have to make. It also shows the toll that infertility can take on relationships and the raw emotions it brings out of people. I came out of the Barbican Centre with many things to think about. In fact, I am still pondering questions as I\u2019m writing this post.<\/p>\n Thank you Fertility Fest for another great year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We go to many exciting conferences and events throughout the year. Fertility Fest, however, is very special in that it bridges the gap between art and science, lay and professional. Infertility as a topic of discussion stirs intense emotions and Fertility Fest provides a very much needed outlet to express such feelings and have conversations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-topical"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9YI6o-4b","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":273,"url":"https:\/\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=273","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":0},"title":"Fertility Show 2019: ‘Holding it together’","date":"12th November 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The vast exhibition hall of the London Fertility Show felt strangely familiar this year as I have come to recognise company stands, logos and people from previous years. A slight difference this year was the presence of a branch-out Fertility Fest, which is always of particular interest to me given\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":106,"url":"https:\/\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=106","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":1},"title":"Fertility Fest 2018","date":"5th June 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"During the second week of May the Bush Theatre in London hosted Fertility Fest \u2013 an arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies. Organised by Jessica Hepburn and Gabby Vaultier, the event brought together artists, fertility experts, regulators, infertility patients and campaign groups\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Fertility-Fest-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":525,"url":"https:\/\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=525","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":2},"title":"The IVF Experience opening workshop","date":"4th November 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We were thrilled to launch our online event series 'The IVF Experience' this week. Our\u00a0first workshop coincided with Fertility Network UK's National Fertility Awareness Week, which is an whole week dedicated to having conversations about infertility and the realities of fertility treatment.\u00a0 Our first workshop was hosted by Sarah Norcross\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":247,"url":"https:\/\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=247","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":3},"title":"Our Year in Review","date":"1st March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"2018 has been a busy year for the Remaking the Human Body team. We are happy to share that we have, so far, conducted observations at 5 sites and have interviewed more than 50 professionals and patients about their views on time-lapse, IVF technology, and add-ons in the UK. 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The ESHRE 2018 annual meeting took place in Barcelona, so, needless to say, I was brimming with excitement not only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Conferences"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/ESHRE.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":442,"url":"https:\/\/remakingthehumanbody.sbm.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=442","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":5},"title":"Re.conceive + Remaking the Human Body","date":"3rd September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"At the beginning of May we were delighted to spend an afternoon on Zoom with visual artist Sally Butcher, who is currently working on her Arts Council England funded project re.conceive. 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