Friday 6 November 2026 3:00pm to 7:00pm
Newton Room The Pit Building, Cambridge
About
This Forum brings together perspectives from biology, medicine, history, demography, psychology, media and reproductive rights to explore how reframing reproductive failure might change the questions we ask, the responses we develop, and the reproductive realities we seek to understand.
Introduction
What does it mean to call a reproductive outcome a “failure”? And who gets to decide?
From miscarriage and infertility to failed pollination, population decline and species survival, reproductive outcomes can take on very different meanings across disciplines, communities and lived experiences.
Confirmed speakers include
- Professor Bassel Al Wattar – reproductive medicine and surgery
- Professor Sarah Franklin – reproductive sociology and reproductive technologies
- Professor Nick Hopwood – history of reproduction, embryology and medicine
- Professor Sarah Lloyd-Fox – child development, families and the perinatal period
- Professor Kathy Niakan – developmental biology and early human development
- Dr Rashmi Patel – mental health and perinatal psychiatry
- Professor Alice Reid – demography and population studies
- Rebecca Siddall – reproductive rights, media and reproductive justice
The Forum will include three interdisciplinary sessions
Session 1: Who gets to define reproductive success and failure? And for what purpose?
Session 2: The Emotional Lives of Reproduction: Hope, blame, responsibility and resilience across generations
Session 3: How can reproductive failure be reframed or inhabited productively?
Following the talks we will be hosting a drinks and nibbles reception. A chance to network with colleagues and find out more about Cambridge Reproduction. All Cambridge based researchers with an interest in the field of reproduction, whatever your discipline, are welcome.