In this online discussion, five involuntarily childless researchers (Cristina Archetti, Laura Curtis, Nisa Darroux, Robin Hadley, and Sarah Roberts) explore what it means to do research with and about the childless-not-by-choice community.
We base our conversation around the following two questions:
What is the value of research on involuntary childlessness conducted by researchers who are involuntarily childless?
What insights do we, as childless researchers, bring to the table, and how do those insights help us, as a community and as individual researchers, move forward?
We explore these questions through discussions about our own journeys as CNBC researchers as well as the social impact of CNBC research. These impacts include, but are not limited to, policy making, consciousness-raising, and the reclamation of the CNBC experience and the value of our lives.
DATE: Sunday 17th September
TIME: 1pm BST - Find your timezone HERE
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE
Please note: Whilst the panellists will be recorded, your camera and audio will be turned off. If you are unable to attend the webinar live, you DO NOT need to register to watch the replay on the website.
PANELLISTS
Cristina Archetti - Norway
Cristina Archetti is Professor of Political Communication and Journalism at the University of Oslo, Norway.
She is also a psychotherapist specialized in trauma, a role in which she is supporting involuntarily childless individuals come to terms with grief and the perspective of a life without children.
Involuntary childless herself due to unexplained infertility, she wrote Childlessness in the age of communication: Deconstructing silence (buy it or download it for free here) to expose the reasons for the silence that surrounds involuntary childlessness. She also founded the first Norwegian organization for the permanently childless Andre veier: Foreningen for permanent barnløse.”
Cristina is passionate about combining her research and therapeutic practice to change the world we live in and make sure the health and well-being of the involuntarily childless is taken seriously. She is currently working on the book The trauma of infertility: Understanding the experience of involuntary childlessness.
Laura Curtis - Canada
Laura is a PhD candidate in the Music Education program at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.
A recipient of the SSHRC Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral award, Laura’s research interests include the social and affective impact of collective singing on involuntarily childless women, the impact of infertility on social and musical identity, and lifelong musical learning.
Since 2004, Laura has established herself as a self-employed private voice, piano, and music theory teacher. She is Music Director of the Addison Women’s Choir in Cambridge, Ontario, and enjoys her role with Choral Canada as a member of the advocacy committee.
Rooted in her personal experience with involuntary childlessness, Laura is passionate about raising consciousness of the experience, and working to support those who are childless not by choice, particularly in the Canadian context. She facilitates two groups on Meetup.com for childless individuals in Ontario and, most recently, founded the Involuntarily Childless Researchers Facebook group.
Nisa Darroux - US
Nisa Darroux has a diverse background in child welfare operations, counseling, and financial management. She currently works with the Department of Health and Human Services. Nisa holds an Ed.D in Community Care and Counseling with an emphasis in Marriage and Family. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Nisa has a passion for helping women and has been a mentor and counselor to many women struggling with issues such as identity, self-esteem, self-care and creating healthy boundaries.
Her dissertation topic for her doctoral degree was An Analysis of the Disenfranchised Grief of Involuntary Childless Women. As an involuntary childless woman, Nisa felt that it was important to create awareness of the loss and grief experienced by women who are childless not by choice, seeing that their grief is often ignored, invalidated, and minimized.
She loves orchids and has several of them in her home. She is also a big music lover, especially instrumental jazz.
Robin Hadley - UK
Robin is a leading expert on the psychological and sociological impact of male childlessness across the life course.
He is from Old Trafford, Manchester (UK) and comes from a large working-class family and left school with few qualifications. His
previous careers include counsellor, deputy technical manager, scientific photographer, and kitchen assistant.
Robin’s training as a counsellor and his own experience of desperately wanting to be a dad led him to research the desire for fatherhood for his self-funded MA (2008) and MSc (2009) and involuntarily childless older men for his PhD (2015). His research has been widely published in international and national media and his book ‘How is a man supposed to be a man? Male childlessness a Life Course Disrupted’ has received critical acclaim.
Robin is a founder member of the campaign group Ageing Without Children.
Sarah Roberts - Australia
Sarah is a World Childless Week Ambassador for the Asia/Pacific Region, Founder of The Empty Cradle and is completing a Masters of Social Work specializing in the transition to permanent involuntary childlessness.
Sarah’s applied community-based research began years ago as a counsellor and community worker with children and young people.
Sarah is driven by a passion for justice, social inclusion, what it means to be human and live a good life.
The research became personal when Sarah found herself at midlife reeling from the deep grief, invisibility and social exclusion of involuntary childlessness. When she reached out for support, she was surprised at the lack of non-death grief literacy and triggering comments. This birthed within her a deep curiosity and desire to understand, and act for cultural change.
Sarah is looking forward to hearing your experiences and how CNBC researchers can positively impact our community.
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE