Naziri, Despina

Procreation without Sex and Fantasies of the Primal Scene: Reflections Stemming from a Clinical Approach to Same Sex Parenting - 2017.


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The objective here is to emphasise how difficult it is to separate sexuality from reproduction in the psyche of persons seeking to become parents but who have to resort to methods of reproduction (whether medically assisted or not) that are not based on sexual intercourse. Looking at excerpts from interviews conducted with homosexual parents during two clinical research studies, an analysis is made of the mental readjustments the people concerned are led to make due to the impact exerted by the internal conflicts and paradoxes involved in these new methods of procreation. More specifically, the article explores the fantasies of the primal scene that impregnate the subjects’ narratives and disrupt attempts to control fertilisation. Proper acknowledgement by clinicians of this psychological conflict may contribute to a benevolent accompaniment of the persons concerned.