Isabel Davis and Anna Burel will introduce their project, Conceiving Histories.
Conceiving Histories looks into the archives to find a history of pre-pregnancy: that is, the diagnostic ambiguity of early pregnancy, the experience of trying to conceive and the politics of childlessness in the past. This is a study of fantasies about the body, about objective and scientific knowledge, and of parenthood. Conceiving Histories investigates the very ordinary experience of not being pregnant for month on month; the difficulties for medical professionals in diagnosing pregnancy; and men’s anxieties about their own reproductive fortunes. It looks at fakes and fashions, dreams and denials, trying and testing.