ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces Part I of the book by briefly discussing the notion of silence and how, from the perspective of politics and public life, this translates into a form invisibility: not speaking out equates to neither getting one’s identity recognized nor one’s needs acknowledged. It also outlines how the different sections of this part of the book progressively build a new and more comprehensive explanation for the silence that surrounds involuntary childlessness than existing theories can provide. This framework, as illustrated through the sections that follow, covers the mechanisms through which suffering and pain felt inside the body translate into silence, exclusion from public debate, and lack of political representation. This happens through intermediate steps that involve, among others, the role of the media in the narrative construction of the body and the self.
