Lets Talk About Sex (and Reproduction): Counselling for Reproductive Health in Post-war Europe

We warmly invite registration for the following workshop on communication practices in postwar reproductive health: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/28575

Let's Talk About Sex (and Reproduction): Counselling for Reproductive Health in Postwar Europe

Thursday 12 December 2019 - Friday 13 December 2019

SG1/2, CRASSH, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT

Counsellors in reproductive health help patients and parents interpret the results of genetic tests, make decisions about treatment and birth control, and understand sexual difficulties. Counselling encounters are potentially highly emotional — provoking guilt, fear, confusion, relief and joy — and can powerfully impact individuals, families, extended families and communities. 

They also have rich and varied histories. In post-war Europe, counselling and communication practices in reproductive health have driven and been shaped by the 'liberalisation' of sexuality, the psychological turn, ethical and legal debates about reproductive autonomy and disability, discourses about race, gender and medicine, a growing need for patients to manage risks, and new definitions of responsible citizens and patients.

This two-day interdisciplinary conference focuses on three principal fields: sexual and birth-control counselling, infertility counselling and genetic counselling. It brings together historians, sociologists and current professionals to discuss how counselling has changed, how its practices have shaped reproductive health and what its histories can tell us about practices today. Among the presenters are Kate Fisher, Tracey Loughran, Teri Chettiar, Angus Clarke, Elizabeth Anionwu, Naomi Pfeffer, and the founders of the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA).

Registration fee (to include tea, coffee and lunches): £30 waged, £15 unwaged (for one day: £15/£8). Please register on the CRASSH website.