Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
Key information
Key information
We want Fertility Fest to be as inclusive as possible and this means being sensitive to people with and without children. We are conscious that some people who are struggling to conceive or are involuntarily childless find it difficult to be around children. But we are equally conscious that there are people who have been on a long and complex journey to conceive who want to come to the festival and might not have childcare support. We don’t want anyone to feel excluded.
With this in mind, we therefore ask that if you would like to or need to bring children / babes in arms to the event or you find it particularly difficult to be around children then please contact us at [email protected] ahead for a chat about how to give you the best experience on the day and make sure we can positively address all people’s feelings and needs.
Opening session
What does a Modern Family look like and how is it made? The panel will share with heartfelt honesty what they went through to make theirs.
Lisa Faulkner – Actress, MasterChef-winning cook and author of the new book Meant To Be – about her own very special modern family
Izzy Judd - Musician, best-selling author of Dare To Dream, wife to McFly’s Harry and mum to Lola and Kit
Sophie Sulheria - BBC Journalist and creator of Radio 4 series The Long Road To Baby will be talking about her very, very long road
Joined on stage by Fertility Expert James Nicopoullos, Consultant Gynaecologist at Lister Fertility and David Ogutu, Medical Director of Herts & Essex Fertility Clinic.
Chaired by Natalie Silverman of The Fertility Podcast
Morning sessions
Artist Holly Slingsby will be presenting her performance to camera video installation Eostre Eats Eastradiol which is one of a series of her most recent work which explores the female body in relation to fertility myths and medicine.
Performance poet Kat Francois – winner of the World Slam championships – will be exploring the highs and lows, the laughter and tears, the fears and the triumphs that infertility and IVF has on a relationship.
The artists will be joined on stage for a discussion by two leading fertility professionals who spend their lives in the IVF bedroom of their patients – Dr Irfana Koita, Director of IVF Matters and Shaun Rogers, Senior Embryologist and Laboratory Manager, Gennet City Fertility.
Chaired by Kate Brian, Women’s Voices Leader at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
Afternoon sessions
UK Premiere Screening of Anything You Lose, directed by Russian-born and American-based film director Irina Vodar.
An extraordinary story spanning seven years of cinema vérité surveillance, Anything You Lose is a remarkable new feature documentary focusing on the director’s personal journey through assisted reproduction resulting in a eye-opening and heart-wrenching study of the psychological effects of prolonged exposure to treatment and the innate human need to connect through time and generations.
After the screening, the film director will take part in a discussion with a panel of fertility experts including Debbie Evans, Director of Clinical Services at Herts & Essex Fertility Clinic. Chaired by Dr Zeynep Gurtin, Lecturer in Women’s Health at UCL.
Final session
Four speakers take to the stage for ten minutes each to share something they feel passionate or angry about in the world of fertility, infertility, reproductive science and modern families. The Fight Clubs are live-streamed on Facebook so if you can’t be there in person, feel free to join in from the sofa at home.
Fight Clubber 1: Michael Johnson Ellis, Founder of Two Daddies
Fight Clubber 2: Praful Nargund, Chief Executive of Create Fertility
Fight Clubber 3: Marisa Carnesky, Show woman and creator of Dr Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman
Fight Clubber 4: TBC
Chaired by Natalie Silverman of The Fertility Podcast
Part of Life Rewired
A season exploring what it means to be human when technology is changing everything
Discover
Modern Family Making at Fertility Fest
The founders of Fertility Fest reveal why they’re on a mission to get everyone talking about modern family making and how they’re bringing the biggest edition yet to the Barbican
Watch: Fertility Fest 2018 trailer
A look back at the trailer for Fertility Fest 2018, ahead of further announcements about the upcoming 2019 festival.
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The Pit
Location
The Pit is located on Level -2 within the main Barbican building and can be accessed via the stairs or lifts on Level G, next to the doors to the Lakeside Terrace.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
