Infertilities, a Curation
Visual art and writing on the immediate and lasting emotional toll of infertility.
Through personal narrative, poetry, and visual art, stories of infertility that are far more nuanced than statistics, insurance diagnostic codes, and treatment plans, are brought to light. These works highlight the varied perspectives of individuals who have lived with infertility and include perspectives from women, men, and nonbinary and transgender individuals, as well as heterosexual couples, single parents by choice, and lesbian and queer-identified couples. This collection intentionally makes visible the emotional depths of infertility. From diagnosis and treatment, adoption, or living childfree, to miscarriage and pregnancy loss, editors, writers, and artists explore the range of experiences with infertility and their psychological, physical, and emotional impacts in all aspects of life. This carefully curated anthology reveals that infertility cannot be reduced to a singular narrative; instead, it is an assemblage of multiple embodied moments. Whether a reader comes to this book as someone personally affected by infertility or someone who wants to learn more about the experiences of individuals facing reproductive loss, Infertilities, A Curation invites readers to consider how creative practices such as art and writing can aid in efforts to heal individual traumas and more broadly as means of advocacy.
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Elizabeth Horn is the cofounder and codirector of The ART of Infertility, for which she has curated thirty exhibits since its inception in 2014. A health care communicator for over twenty years, Horn was the 2018 recipient of the Hope Award for Innovation given by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association for her work communicating patient experiences through arts programming. Maria Novotny is an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and codirector of The ART of Infertility. Her research on infertility and reproductive justice has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Rhetoric Review, and Technical Communication Quarterly. Robin Silbergleid is a professor of English at Michigan State University. She is a writer, teacher, and scholar who has led numerous writing workshops and professional conference panels on topics of related to infertility, single motherhood, and gender. She is the author of several books, including the memoir Texas Girl, the poetry collection The Baby Book, and co-editor of Reading and Writing Experimental Texts: Critical Innovations.
Infertilities, A Curation offers an honest expression of experiences with infertility. The artworks and narratives in this book reveal the complexity of this condition and the profound personal journeys along its path. Infertilities, A Curation should be required reading in every health humanities curriculum--particularly at this time of vulnerability around reproductive health.
--Lisa Erdman "MFA, DA, Humanities Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State College of Medicine"
