[Psycho-medical approach to infertility. Suffering from sterility]

We present a study of how a doctor and a psycho-analyst have collaborated in an infertility clinic. We have rejected the usual division between organic and psychogenic sterility and have emphasized how in each case there is latent psychic suffering. This paper is in two parts: 1) The first describes the methodology of the joint consultation and how suitable this method is for research; 2) The second part is a synthesis of the clinical cases collected over the course of 18 months. There is always a latent psychological conflict present behind the complaint of infertility. When a doctor and a psycho-analyst are together the patient can express the preconscious or unconscious fantasy where the true significance of his symptom of sterility can be found. This may be a defence against fulfilling an Oedipus situation, or against a fantasy of parthenogenetic reproduction, or against the fear of being torn open bodily. These are given as examples.