ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the author's observation of a 3-year-old boy, Suraj. He is the second child of Asian parents and has a 7-year-old sister. His parents are both immigrants, having arrived in this country in their early adulthood, and appear to be in their early forties. Both Suraj and his sister were conceived with the help of fertility treatments after their parents endured several years of painful disappointment at being unable to conceive naturally. Klein states that the infant is object-related from birth and that his relation to his mother and towards food are intimately bound up with each other from the start of life. The infant’s persecutory anxiety, aroused by the birthing experience and the loss of the intrauterine situation, are to some degree relieved by the warmth and comfort offered by the mother and particularly by the gratifying experience of sucking the breast and taking in food.
