Social freezing, unlimited access, open identity ….

a Rainmaker?

Hana Konečná, Catriona Menzies, Marek Zeman

30th Annual Meeting, Munich, Germany, 29 June - 2 July 2014

MAR - Hope Individuals with genetic disease, premature ovarian failure, young people suffering of oncological or other chronic diseases (fertility preservation), extending the course of treatment into post-reproductive age...

HOPE, in Christian thought, one of the three theological virtues (faith, charity). It is distinct - it is directed exclusively toward the future, as fervent desire and confident expectation. The ancient Greeks used the term hope (elpis) in reference to an ambiguous, open-ended future; but the Resurrection of Jesus Christ gave the term, for Christians, a positive expectation and a moral quality.

• Families feel that fostering false hope is wrong. (“Well, if there’s no hope, I think that to encourage the family’s hope would be wrong, because then it comes as real shock, if something does go wrong.”)

• Families feel that physicians should avoid expressing absolute certainty while delivering prognosis (“I think it would always be good for the doctor to end with, ‘But, you know, anything’s still possible.’”)

Apatira, Latifat et al.: Hope, truth and preparing for death. In: Annals of Internal Medicine, 12, 2008

„Hope“ in research

„… I understand hope as a state of a spirit. ... The worse the situation in which we question our hope is, the deeper our hope becomes. Hope is not an optimism. It is not a conviction that something comes out well. Instead, it is a certainty that things make sense, that they are

worth – regardless the outcome.“ Václav Havel, Czech ex-president, playwright, philosopher, dissident.

Romance | Western 1956 (USA) Director: Joseph Anthony Writer: N. Richard Nash Stars: Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, ..

What characterizes hope?

• Cutting-edge situation without a possibility of choice

• Deep meaning ↓

In such situation, hope has greater value than the truth

What characterizes hope?

• Cutting-edge situation without a possibility of choice

• Deep meaning ↓

In such situation, hope has greater value than the truth

Is social freezing, ART in advanced age etc. a solution of cutting-edge life situations?

What characterizes hope?

• Cutting-edge situation without a possibility of choice

• Deep meaning ↓

In such situation, hope has greater value than the truth

Is social freezing, ART in advanced age etc. a solution of cutting-edge life situations?

Our hopes and wishes vs. hopes and wishes of others

Salman Rawaf (2014): Academic perspective for developing person-centred Health Policy, 7th Geneva Conference on PCM, 27-30 April 2014

Health system

When hope has attained its object, it ceases to be hope and becomes possession. Possession: - the state of having, owning, or controlling something (synonyma: ownership, control, hands, keeping, care, custody, charge, hold, title, guardianship) - an item of property; something belonging to one (synonyma: belongings, things, property, (worldly) goods, (personal) effects, assets, chattels, movables, valuables, stuff, bits and pieces, luggage, baggage, gear, junk - the state of being controlled by a demon or spirit

HOPE → I CAN GET WHAT I WANT → THE RIGHT TO GET WHAT I WANT ???

Childrens’preferences of mother’s age at their birth

Childrens’preferences of father’s age at their birth

Hope and Open identity

What is identity? • Essentialist theories: essential

uniformity over the time and among people. Some kind of mysterious core expected - essential properties.

• Constructivist theories: identity being changed by the situation, time, place, circumstances. It is a product of social interaction and as such is fluid, unstable.

(Bačová, 2008; Brubaker & Cooper, 2000; Fearon, 1999; Paleček, 2008)

Who Am I? And If So, How Many?

Hope and Open identity

What is identity? • Essentialist theories: essential

uniformity over the time and among people. Some kind of mysterious core expected - essential properties.

• Constructivist theories: identity being changed by the situation, time, place, circumstances. It is a product of social interaction and as such is fluid, unstable.

(Bačová, 2008; Brubaker & Cooper, 2000; Fearon, 1999; Paleček, 2008)

Who Am I? And If So, How Many?

Thank you for your attention

hana@adamcr.cz