Corporate Social Responsibility

"Parole Fertili" makes its stage debut with "Quasi Genitori"

Parole Fertili Quasi Genitori

Friday 29 November in the Teatro Litta theatre in Milan was an evening full of emotions and food for thought. The evening saw the premiere of Quasi Genitori (Almost Parents), the play created by Parole Fertili (Fertile Words), IBSA’s CSR project dedicated to the theme of parenting.

The protagonists of the performance are a young couple who decide to undertake the journey in search of a child and who find themselves resorting to the techniques offered by Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP), thus embarking on a path fraught with unknowns and difficulties.

The key themes of the play i.e. the importance of the story and the sharing of one's own experience for the couple who decide to undertake the MAP pathway, the psychological and emotional implications of this route, the complex and delicate relationship with the doctor and the perspectives offered by narrative medicine, were at the centre of the debate that followed the play.

Moderated by journalist Barbara Rachetti, the debate was attended by Rossella Nappi, Full Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Pavia, IRCCS Policlinico Sanmatteo, Alessandra Razzano, psychologist and psychotherapist at the Sant’Anna Hospital in Turin, Cristina Cenci, anthropologist and creator of the Parole Fertili project, Luisa Musto, author of the blog Fertilmente and founder of the charity Strada per un sogno (Road to a Dream).

The debate was preceded by a speech by Luca Crippa, Chief Executive Officer of IBSA Italia, who recalled how IBSA has grown and become a leading player in Italian science and industry thanks to Innovation and Quality, but also Responsibility and People. Projects like Parole Fertili represent the company’s commitment to the region.

Patrizia Puppi, Corporate Communication and CSR Manager at IBSA Italia, then framed the play within the wider corporate social responsibility project that goes under the name of Parole Fertili.

Patrizia Puppi explained that “We need to get offline and go further, because it’s fundamental to talk about the couple in other places too, to help specialists, to meet people, because we need to humanise this MAP journey.” That’s why, he concluded, “we won’t stop at the theatre, we’ll go on. Because the desire for parenthood is the desire of a woman, a man and a couple, but we must make it a collective desire, the desire of society. It’s not a problem that belongs to others, but a problem for us, for everyone, for the community.”

Quasi Genitori is a key milestone on a journey started in 2016 as a digital storytelling project through the creation of a platform (www.parolefertili.it) designed to act as a meeting and sharing place open to anyone who has undertaken a MAP journey. The success of the online community was echoed by the success of the book Parole Fertili. Viaggio alla ricerca di un figlio (The Journey in the Search for a Child), published in 2018 by Mondadori Electa. Following on from the platform and the publication of the book, the theatre piece, with its communicative power and ability to arouse emotions, represented the ideal evolution of a dynamic and developing project, which will continue to be enriched in the future by new initiatives.