Valérie Frossard
Valérie Frossard

MAP PROCESS

2021 – in progress

Côtes d’Armor, Bagnolet, Czech Republic

"Try again. Don’t get discouraged, believe. Read the signs in just about everything, don't pay attention to it, perform magic rituals, don't think about it, believe in it, don't believe in it. Does it matter? Try again, don't lose hope. Question your relationship, your choices, your beliefs, your motivations, your patterns, your judgements. Work on yourself, seek the impetus of pure desire. Accept what life has to offer. Try, try again, listen to all the advice, cry, try again, don't think about it. Believe, wait, calculate everything, follow the prescription, the cold chain. Prick yourself, be pricked, be visited, seek the impetus of pure desire. Believe, hang on, plan. Not getting what you want. Not getting there. Not knowing what you want anymore. Considering oocyte donation. Not talking about it, having difficulty talking about it, being ashamed, being angry at being ashamed, being angry at life, being angry at yourself. Wondering if you've done something wrong. Wondering if you're being punished, if you don't deserve it, if you're not good enough. Look for sweetness, look for comfort, feeling like throwing it all away. Spend four years of your life on it, pretending nothing’s happening. Try again.”

Photography is used here to metaphorically show absence and emptiness: to tell the story of a pregnancy that is hoped for, desired, fantasized about but that does not arrive. MAP Process accounts for the journey through medically assisted procreation (MAP).

MAP Process is an autobiographical narrative: the symbolic expression has allowed me to share my intimacy and the emotional states that arose. For the last four years, this photographic work has represented a jubilant space of freedom along a path where I felt I had to stand impassive in the midst of the storms.

It is difficult to share what you are going through when you are undergoing MAP treatments. Even more so when it drags on and does not produce the sought-after results. Treatment success rates are low* and many people experience the failure of parenthood - as intense as grief - in silence and isolation. We do not often hear these stories when we talk about MAP, yet they are by far the most numerous... It is for them too that this series exists.

* MAP success rates remain uncertain, given the number of variables linked to age, the protocols used, each person's medical file, etc. Overall, success rates vary between 6% and 25% per attempt. There is some sort of omerta about the reality of the statistics: doctors and clinics tend to always give the most positive figures...

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MAP PROCESS

2021 – in progress

Côtes d’Armor, Bagnolet, Czech Republic

"Try again. Don’t get discouraged, believe. Read the signs in just about everything, don't pay attention to it, perform magic rituals, don't think about it, believe in it, don't believe in it. Does it matter? Try again, don't lose hope. Question your relationship, your choices, your beliefs, your motivations, your patterns, your judgements. Work on yourself, seek the impetus of pure desire. Accept what life has to offer. Try, try again, listen to all the advice, cry, try again, don't think about it. Believe, wait, calculate everything, follow the prescription, the cold chain. Prick yourself, be pricked, be visited, seek the impetus of pure desire. Believe, hang on, plan. Not getting what you want. Not getting there. Not knowing what you want anymore. Considering oocyte donation. Not talking about it, having difficulty talking about it, being ashamed, being angry at being ashamed, being angry at life, being angry at yourself. Wondering if you've done something wrong. Wondering if you're being punished, if you don't deserve it, if you're not good enough. Look for sweetness, look for comfort, feeling like throwing it all away. Spend four years of your life on it, pretending nothing’s happening. Try again.”

Photography is used here to metaphorically show absence and emptiness: to tell the story of a pregnancy that is hoped for, desired, fantasized about but that does not arrive. MAP Process accounts for the journey through medically assisted procreation (MAP).

MAP Process is an autobiographical narrative: the symbolic expression has allowed me to share my intimacy and the emotional states that arose. For the last four years, this photographic work has represented a jubilant space of freedom along a path where I felt I had to stand impassive in the midst of the storms.

It is difficult to share what you are going through when you are undergoing MAP treatments. Even more so when it drags on and does not produce the sought-after results. Treatment success rates are low* and many people experience the failure of parenthood - as intense as grief - in silence and isolation. We do not often hear these stories when we talk about MAP, yet they are by far the most numerous... It is for them too that this series exists.

* MAP success rates remain uncertain, given the number of variables linked to age, the protocols used, each person's medical file, etc. Overall, success rates vary between 6% and 25% per attempt. There is some sort of omerta about the reality of the statistics: doctors and clinics tend to always give the most positive figures...

previous

top

NEXt