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"Mihai Eminescu" National Theater from Chisinau, on tour in Bucharest with two exceptional performances
01 February 2025The 10th edition of the Tour of Unification through Art - The Romanian Theater Bucharest-Iasi-Chisinau will bring on February 1 and 2, 2025 at the NTB two major performances of the Mihai Eminescu National Theater: The Glass Garden and Chirita in Concert in Chisinau. The performance The Glass Garden, directed by Petru Hadarca, is a dramatization by Mariana Onceanu based on Tatiana Tibuleac's novel of the same title, awarded the European Union Prize for Literature - 2019. Taken from an orphanage, named Lastocika ("swallow" transl.), raised by a Russian woman in a Russian-dominated Chisinau, where the court was legion, the orphan grows up in search of love, understanding, landmarks with which she could identify. Her mother tongue, Romanian, keeps her rooted in her cultural-identity and opens the way to her connection with the free world. "The novel The Glass Garden by Tatiana Tibuleac has shaken me deeply and brought me out of my inner comfort. It made me see the world from a different perspective, from several different angles: I felt the bitterness in the mouth of an orphaned child, a woman's fears about her femininity, the emptiness in the soul of a man desperately searching for a sense of identity. This confession, which sometimes bursts with rage and cruelty, sometimes turns into a lyrical meditation, sometimes meticulously cuts the thread in four or bites ironically, makes you wonder by what miracle an abandoned and unloved child, raped in his teenage years, becomes a good person who loves and gives love?", says the director of the performance, Petru Hadarca. The second performance to be presented by the TNME on February 2, 2025 is Chirita in concert in Chisinau, a musical staged by Ada Milea, on a script inspired by the plays of Vasile Alecsandri and Matei Millo. TNME's Chirita is seductive, charismatic and, of course, spirited and fiery, ready to eat fire for the sake of her priceless offspring: the funky Gulita - "bearded child", Aristita and Calipsita - "my little girls, plucked from the stars", the flamboyant and charming Luluta, trapped in a golden cage, and the whole retinue of the famous play: The Charlatans - surprising in their tricks, Conu Barzoi - a candidate for mayor, the exciting Leonas, in a parade of unexpected disguises, and a surprise character - Vasile Alecsandri, who, imperturbable, watches from the pedestal, the accelerated unfolding of the actions. TNME has chosen Vasile Alecsandri's plays because he is one of the few classic authors who, along with Mihai Eminescu and Ion Creanga, was allowed by censors in libraries and school textbooks during the Soviet period. And Chirița is the comic and jovial character, but also subversive at the same time, because it was she who provided the connection between the two sides of the Prut, when Soviet ideology was instrumentalizing the narrative of two literatures and two languages. The Romanian Theater Bucharest-Iasi-Chisinau Unification Tour is a long-standing project initiated by the late Ion Caramitru, who aimed to unite the two banks of the Prut through theater. The event takes place annually in January, around the celebration of the Unification of the Principalities Day, and includes performances in Bucharest and Iasi, followed by a return tour to Chisinau, organized around March 27, the anniversary of the Unification of Bassarabia with Romania. The project is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute and its representation in Chisinau, the Romanian Cultural Institute "Mihai Eminescu". Both performances will take place in the "Ion Caramitru" Hall of the NTB, starting at 7 pm. Tickets for the two unique performances are on sale on tnb.ro and at the Ticket Office of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest. Photography Florin Ghioca Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
The musical "Here We Are!" - starting January 2025, at NTB
18 January 2025The jukebox musical Here we are!, a co-production of 2024 Touchstone Creative and the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, is a new musical show on the NTB's bill, performed by young actors Laura Gabriela Oana, Andreea Gaica, Dragos Ionita, Andrei Marcuta and Andrei Dutu, accompanied by the orchestrations of Bogdan Morosanu (Rockabella). Staged this summer in Bucharest, in a national premiere, at the 10th anniversary of the underground band Rockabella, and presented at the Sala Media of the NTB, "Here We Are!" returns to the stage of the National Theater in Bucharest after a national mini-tour. Written by Andrei Radu and Natalie Ester on music and lyrics by Teodorei Morosanu (Rockabella), directed by Natalie Ester and Ionut Grama, this performance, produced by Touchstone Creative in partnership with the "I L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, was co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The script of the show, which aims to artistically explore through musicals the phenomenon of youth migration, is based on real facts and experiences shared by young people who took part in the storytelling workshops "Until Far Away" of the project, developed by playwright Ana Cucu-Popescu and director Natalie Ester. The musical "Here We Are!" returns to the stage and continues its way to the hearts of the public with its inclusion in the repertoire of the current season of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theater in Bucharest. The first performances to which we invite you, this time at the Sala Atelier, are scheduled on January 18 and 23, 2025, from 19:00. The new performance at the Bucharest National Theatre is a bittersweet song of young people who have gone abroad, of those who want to cross the border and of the stories that have carried them on their way to maturity. The end of 12th grade. We experience, with the young performers, the joy of prom. We go through the excitement of the high school exam, then forget our worries on the sand of the party in Vama Veche. We take a deep breath, look into the eyes of our friends and vow never to part. Then we hit the road. And passions, ambitions, potential, families, 'the system' - or all of them together - push us to different corners of the world... And promises once made on a beach remain a footnote in a diary: 'Someone find our way back'. Between rock chords, fulfilled dreams and missed chances, five "No Answer" friends think they are "Invulnerable" and raise the "White Flag" in the hope of reliving an encore together. Audiences will find life stories inspired by true events and fans of local rock music will enjoy new interpretations of songs from the albums "Clarobscur" and "Invulnerabili". The creative team also included Ioana Pashca (scenography), Filip Stoica (choreography), Georgiana Mototolea (vocal preparation), Andrei Délczeg (lighting design), Alexandra Suditu (production assistant), Bianca Archip (lighting operator) and Alina Epingeac (theaterlogist). Tickets are available at the NTB box office and online at www.tnb.ro Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
"Out at Sea" by Sławomir Mrożek, directed by Felix Alexa, the first premiere of 2025 at the NTB
17 January 2025The new year begins at “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre with a premiere directed by Felix Alexa: Out at Sea by Slawomir Mrożek, on the stage of the Pictura Hall. With an outstanding cast and an atmosphere of extraordinary plasticity created by set designers Stefan Caragiu and Liliana Cenean, director Felix Alexa reimagines Slawomir Mrożek's black comedy from the 1960s for today's audiences. Perhaps the best one-act play by one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century, Out at Sea is a political parable and at the same time an absurdist comedy with a disturbing message behind the humor. Although written in the midst of Soviet censorship, the play is disturbingly topical and seems straight out of today's headlines.4 The play follows the fate of three starving shipwrecked people trying to find a "democratic" way to decide which of them will be eaten by the other two. The arguments become more and more demagogic, the bullying and cajoling more and more intense, until the interventions of a passing postman and an old servant push the action to a frightening climax. "Out at Sea" condemns, through the cynicism, absurdity and satire so characteristic of Mrożek's writing, the Machiavellian brutality of political power at all times. "What could be more topical today than "man being eaten by man", as a character in Mrożek's play puts it? I would say that today we are revolving around the nuances of this cannibalistic action, in all its senses. A brilliantly clever text, "Out at Sea" now becomes much more exciting, dangerous and acute than when it was written. For me, this performance is a wake-up call to the moral degradation of society. Beneath the play's subtle, dark and piercing humor lie the painful truths of our daily lives. And yet, how far can human beings go with their lack of scruples when "hunger" becomes the main element? Far enough for 'Out at Sea', this gem of absurdist theater, to become cruelly realistic." Felix Alexa The first performances will take place on January 17, 18 and 19, 2025, at 19.00, and the official premiere on January 24, at 7 pm. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
National Culture Day at the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theater in Bucharest
15 January 2025On the occasion of the National Day of Culture, Wednesday, January 15, 2025, the program of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest will include: Mind and Heart - Reading-performance with two plays in one act by Mihai Eminescu Part I - Mind and HeartCast: Ionut Toader (Mimi), Alice Salceanu (Bibi), Monica Davidescu (Ana), Cesonia Postelnicu (The Aunt) Part II – Gogu TatiiCast: Alice Salceanu (Anetta), Ionut Toader (Barbu), Ovidiu Cuncea (Pavel), Razvan Popa (Leizer)Directed by: Razvan PopaSala Media, 7 pmFree access The passion for the stage and its problems embraced different aspects in the life and preoccupations of the poet Mihai Eminescu. He got "caught" in the mirage of theater in his childhood, when he listened to Alecsandri's plays, and in his adolescence, when "I once played theater in the attic room - he remembers - where I used to sit with the Armenian...", a fellow student at the German High School in Cernauți (1860-1863). His involvement in the work of famous private companies (Tardini-Vladicescu, Pascaly, Iorgu Caragiali) and the Teatrul cel Mare in Bucharest as a souffleur, actor (sporadically) and [literary] secretary cemented his connection with the world of show business, giving him the impetus to put some dramatic projects on paper himself during his student years. The contact with the Junimea Magazine, as well as the spiritual context of the time in which topics related to theatrical life were the order of the day, gave him the opportunity to express himself as an exceptional theoretician and theater chronicler, sometimes also as a translator, for the newspapers Curierul de Yassy, Timpul, and various literary magazines in Transylvania (collaboration during his studies in Vienna, when the idea of a Romanian theater in the region was taking shape). His plays - historical dramas and comedies of manners - more in verse than in prose, have the outline of dramatized poems. For the most part, they have no final form and are, as the author himself would say, at the stage of "reworking". Minte si inima (Mind and Heart), a reading-performance with two plays in one act by Mihai Eminescu, directed by Razvan Popa, reconstructs, with much humor, a fragment of Romanian life in the 19th century. "Was Eminescu also a playwright, exegetes occasionally wonder, or was he only a fickle, as the great novelist Stendhal was, in theatrical matters all his life? Fragmentary, more compact or simple punctuations and schematizations, Eminescu's dramatic works prove... a continuous aspiration and serious means, which could have fostered a powerful creator of characters and dramatic situations. ...his short and troubled biography did not allow the great poet, who was undeniably also a man of the theater, as he was a man of the library, of school and of journalism, to include in the permanent repertory of the theater dramatic works that were at the highest level of his perfect lyrical creations." Perpessicius "The National Theater in Bucharest has a moral, social and cultural duty to promote Romanian drama whenever it can, and in the context of the anniversary of the national poet Mihai Eminescu's birthday and the National Culture Day, the National Theater has a duty to promote Eminescian drama. Last year we did a reading performance with Emmi, lost love, lost life, a play in one act, which has never been performed in Bucharest and which incited the audience present at the performance, with the hope of transforming it into a show in the repertoire of the National Theatre, a hope, unfortunately, unrealized. This year I propose two comedies written, of course, by the eternal Mihai Eminescu, but also unfortunately, unfortunately, not finished by the - otherwise - prolific poet. It cannot be called a restitution, as both texts have never been performed on stage or presented in any way to the public. It is not only an exercise in remembrance, but also a wide-ranging reverence full of gratitude to the immortal poet and for his continuing inspiration." Razvan Popa "Queen Mary at the theater" exhibition Spectators are invited to 2 guided tours in the National Theatre Museum to discover the exhibition "Queen Maria at the Theatre", organized within the project "Innovative exhibition with restored cultural goods from the NTB Museum collection", funded by the EEA Grants 2014-2021, RO-Culture Program (www.muzeultnb.ro). The exhibition presents stage costumes and objects belonging to great Romanian actors, recently restored and exhibited in the new space dedicated to the museum, inaugurated on March 27, 2023, on the occasion of the World Theater Day. The main attraction is a dress with a train that belonged to Queen Maria of Romania, and the exhibition is complemented by interactive, visual and auditory elements. Starting times: 12.00 and 14.00 Tickets are available free of charge from the Ticket Office and online at www.tnb.ro Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Holiday opening hours at the Box Office
18 December 2024On the occasion of the Winter Holidays, the NTB Box Office will have the following opening hours: On December 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 2024 and January 1, 2, 3, 2025 - closed! Open December 23 from 12:00 - 18:00 and December 27, 28, 29 from 10:00 - 19:00! From January 4, 2025 we will return to normal hours of operation! We wish you Happy Holidays and look forward to seeing you at our performances! Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Mary Stuart, directed by Andrei Serban, premieres at the NTB
12 December 2024After a 32-year absence from the stage of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, director Andrei Serban returns on December 12 and 13, 2024 with the premiere of Mary Stuart, an adaptation of Friedrich Schiller's classic play by British playwright Robert Icke. The production benefits from an outstanding cast, sets by Helmut Stürmer and costumes by Corina Gramosteanu, marking a landmark in this year's theater season. This production brings to the fore the dramatic conflicts between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, exploring themes of power, ambition and identity in a modern and captivating vision, under the baton of a director who has left his mark on world theater. This "is an important moment for Romanian theater, marking the return of a master who continues to fascinate and challenge new generations of spectators" - journalist Radu Caranfil said in September. On the eve of the official premiere, director Andrei Serban confesses, "I return after more than 30 years at the National Theatre with an extremely ambitious project - Mary Stuart, a modern-day adaptation by my friend Robert Icke of Schiller's famous historical play.* It is the drama of two powerful women, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I - two queens, of Scotland and England, respectively. Both come face to face with the most extreme consequences of power. (...) A play about the plight of these women, fascinated by each other, caught in a complex web of attraction, rivalry and jealousy. A nation divided, when history loses its meaning and everything seems driven by chance, a truth of all times as well as of the moment we are living in today (...) Icke offers an extraordinary chance for the women to play alternately two huge roles: the queen who must be assassinated (Mary) and the one who must assassinate her (Elizabeth). The choice also offers the surprise of a purely theatrical element, a demonstration of acting virtuosity. (...) For Icke, chance is paramount in the way the play evolves. That's why on certain evenings in the performance, all the actors find out at the last moment, at the same time as the audience, the cast of the two queens by the simple flip of a coin! The toss of the coin symbolically emphasizes the arbitrary nature of destiny and the togetherness of the two women, alone in a man's world. These women are in fact two sides of the same coin. While the coin is spinning, time and history remain suspended", says the director. Serban has always been drawn to contemporary reinterpretations of great classical texts, and the collaboration with Robert Icke, one of the most talented British directors of his generation, represents a pinnacle meeting of two different theatrical visions. Mary Stuart directed by Robert Icke premiered at the Almeida Theatre in London in 2016 to remarkable acclaim. The cast and the creative team that brings this story to the stage of the National Theatre include remarkable names: Raluca Aprodu and Ofelia Popii (who play, alternately, the roles of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart), Nicoleta Lefter (Mary Stuart), Mihai Calin, Florin Aioane /Stefan Mihai / Tudor Cucu Dumitrescu, Conrad Mericoffer, Marius Bodochi, Emilian Oprea, Mihai Calota, Ciprian Nicula, Florin Calbajos. Director: Andrei Serban; Associate director: Daniela Dima; Set design: Helmut Stürmer; Costumes: Corina Gramosteanu; Music: Alexei Turcan; Video: Andrei Cozlac; Lighting design: Cristi Niculescu; Sound design: Liviu Stoica. Assistant director: Corina Mihaela Predescu; Set design assistant: Steff Chelaru; Lighting design assistant: Daniel Mateescu. Artistic consultant: Ilinca Radulian; Delegated producer: Madalina Ciupitu. * Adapted by Robert Icke after Friedrich Schiller. Translation by Irina Velcescu. Performance version: Daniela Dima. Official Premiere: December 12 and 13, 2024, 19.00, at the Studio Hall. The next performances are scheduled for January 10, 11 and 12, 2025 at 19:00. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Ofelia Popii, NTB actress
02 December 2024Welcome to the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theater Bucharest team, Ofelia Popii and congratulations for the "Cultural Merit" Order, received from the Romanian Presidency! We are proud to announce that the actress Ofelia Popii is part of the cast of "Mary Stuart", directed by Andrei Serban, which will have its official premiere on December 12 and 13, 2024! It has also recently started rehearsals for the production of "Ilya the Prophet" by Tadeusz Slobodzianek, directed by Botond Nagy. The premiere is scheduled for February 2025. Considered as one of the most important actresses of the last decade, Ofelia Popii has numerous UNITER, UCIN and GOPO awards to her credit, which confirm an exceptional career, which began right after graduating from the Faculty of Theater of the "Babes Bolyai" University of Cluj-Napoca in 2001. She collaborated with theaters in Luxembourg and Stuttgart, and spent most of her career at the Radu Stanca Theatre in Sibiu, where she definitively conquered the public with the role of Mephisto in Silviu Purcarete's Faust. She has collaborated with several well-known directors, including Tompa Gabor, Yuri Kordonski, Alexandru Dabija, Mihai Maniutiu and Dragos Galgotiu. She has directed theater performances and acted in feature films, including "Somewhere in Palilula", "Q.E.D", "Moon Hotel Kabul" and "Dog Man". "As a token of appreciation and gratitude for the professionalism and dedication in the service of the arts and the public, for the important contribution made to the affirmation of the values of Romanian theater and cinema at home and abroad", the President of Romania decorated her with the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category D - "Performing Arts". Congratulations, Ofelia, and much success! Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
On Romania's National Day at the NTB
01 December 2024A new exhibition dedicated to Édouard de Max (1869-1924), an internationally renowned Romanian actor and member of the prestigious Comédie Française, will open on December 1, 2024, at 4 p.m. at the National Theatre Museum. Known for his innovative approaches and unconventional spirit, Édouard de Max made a remarkable contribution to the Parisian theater scene during the Belle Époque. Following the opening, the public is invited to take part in a guided tour of the permanent exhibition "Queen Marie at the Theatre", realized in the framework of the project "Innovative exhibition with restored cultural assets from the TNB Museum collection", funded by the EEA Grants 2014-2021, RO-CULTURA Program (www.muzeultnb.ro). At the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre, the public can also benefit, on the occasion of Romania's National Day, from the famous NTB Guided Tours, which have reached the spectacular number of 2000 this month! The program for the festive day includes 3 guided tours, according to the following schedule, at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm. They will visit backstage, set and costume workshops and actors' dressing rooms. The guide, Ionut Corpaci, who will reveal some of the secrets of Europe's largest theater, will complete the experience with stories from the history of the National Theater. Starting at 5 pm, the festive atmosphere will be enhanced by a light projection of the national flag on the facade and the stage tower of the National Theatre. In the evening, from 7 pm, at the Media Hall, the audience will be welcomed by the actor Vitalie Bichir who proposes an incursion into the world of Ion Creanga. A retrospective - initiatory journey, inspired by a few pages from Childhood Memories and pages from The Children's Teacher (co-authored by Ion Creanga himself!). The script is an educational and humorous counterpoint to the curiosity of discovery that belongs to the early years and the unforgettable mischief of those years, viewed with detachment and a nostalgic smile, decades later. "I invite you to relive our childhoods together, to let ourselves be carried away by our memories and to discover their charm and essence together", says Vitalie Bichir, performer and director. We also remind you that the morning of this festive day will find the youngest of the theater's spectators trained, together with the Wizard of Fairy Tales and his team, in the wonderful world of Romanian fairy tales, in the Fortress of All Fairy Tales, at the carnival; the performance - invariably a premiere (!) - will take place at the Media Hall, starting at 11.00. Tickets: from the TNB box office or online. For most of the above events (except the performance for children in the Sala Media!), admission is free (subject to availability, in order of registration). You need to purchase 0-value tickets at the TNB Box Office or online to register. For more information, call: 021 314.71.71 - TNB Ticket Office. For the full program and more details, visit the theater's website, www.tnb.ro. Photography by: Florin Ghioca Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Congratulations, Diana Dumbrava!
30 November 2024As a token of appreciation for the professionalism and dedication in the service of the arts and the public, for the important contribution made to the affirmation of Romanian cultural values at home and abroad, the President of Romania conferred the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category D - "Performing Arts", to Mrs. Dumbrava Diana Florentina, actress, I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest. Diana Dumbrava graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film, class of 1994, acting department, professor Ion Cojar's class, Diana Dumbrava joined the NTB theater company with the role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, directed by Felix Alexa (2003) and since then she has had numerous roles in theater, film, television and radio. She received the Silver Leopard Award for Best Actress for the lead part in "Maria" at the 56th Locarno International Film Festival, 2003, a role that also earned her a Special Mention from the festival's Ecumenical Jury, the UCIN Award, the Best Performance Award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina and a nomination for the European Film Academy Awards. She has collaborated with several theaters in Bucharest and in the country (Toma Caragiu Theatre Ploiesti, Comedy Theatre, Bulandra Theatre, Metropolis Theatre, Art Theatre). In the current season she can be seen in performances such as "Exile" (directed by Alexandra Badea), "Fathers and Sons", "The Memory of Water", "God Dresses from the Thrift" or the recent performance "The Eichmann Trial" (directed by Mihai Calin). Congratulations and much success! Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
The National Theater will be lit up for European Fertility Week
04 November 2024From November 4 to 10, 2024, the 9th edition of the European Fertility Week is taking place, during which Fertility Europe - the pan-European organization that brings together 33 associations of patients affected by infertility from 28 countries - is intensifying its awareness & advocacy actions for the cause of those who want children but can only have them with medical help. On this occasion, the SOS Infertility Association is organizing the 13th edition of the National Week of Awareness of the Medical and Social Phenomenon of Infertility, an event that has been organized in Romania since 2012 and which since 2016 has been held under the umbrella of European Fertility Week. Among the actions of the Awareness Week organized by SOS Infertility Association we recall: - Press conference (Monday, November 4, from 11:00, Grand Hotel Continental) - among other topics, on the need to adopt a National Plan to fight Infertility, a proposal that SOS Infertility Association will address to the new government in January 2025. - Launch of the study The Sociology of Infertility and Demographic Rearmament: a Romanian perspective on the profitability for the state budget of public investment in the conception of a child through in vitro fertilization, author lect. univ. dr. Bogdan Bucur, sociologist. - Architectural illumination, celebrating European Fertility Week 2024 - supporting the cause of the fight against infertility Bucharest• Victoria Palace – Romanian Government Headquarters• Parliament Palace - seat of the Romanian Parliament• Special Telecommunications Tower of the Special Telecommunications Service (STS)• National Opera in Bucharest• Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History• CEC Bank Palace – Calea Victoriei• Bucharest National Theater Brasov• Brasov City Hall• The letters "BRASOV" on the Tampa Cluj-Napoca- "Iuliu Hatieganu" Faculty of Medicine Cluj-Napoca Sibiu• Sibiu City Hall Timisoara• National Opera in Timisoara• National Art Museum in Timisoara - Continuation of the # education_on_fertility campaign: online information about fertility - aimed at the general public, who in principle are not currently experiencing infertility, but could be in this category in the absence of correct information. - Numerous online collective actions, which are intensely shared by a large number of the 43,000 members of the SOS Infertility FB group. - After the European Fertility Week, the 8th issue of "What do you know about your fertility?", a fertility education tool produced and distributed free of charge by SOS Infertility Association, will be out of print. At the European level, during this edition of the European Fertility Week, Fertility Europe is launching the "Gamete Story" campaign, with a focus on human reproduction procedures with third party donors. Fertility Europe, an organization of which SOS Infertility Association is a member since 2010, is calling on decision-makers at European political level and at Member State level:- acknowledge the right to try to have a child as a universal right throughout the European Union;- ensure equal, fair and safe access to infertility treatment;- ensure public funding for all stages of infertility treatment;- involve the public sector in providing better information about fertility and infertility;- implement communication campaigns to remove the stigma associated with infertility problems Messages of #education_on_fertility that the SOS Infertility Association would like to convey to the general public on the occasion of European Fertility Week:- Infertility affects one in six (or, according to more recent statistics, one in five) couples worldwide.- Female fertility declines earlier than commonly thought, with oocytes losing their reproductive capacity particularly after the age of 35.- In half of cases of couple infertility, the male factor is responsible.- If you want children, don't postpone pregnancy.- If pregnancy is delayed, see an infertility specialist (not your gynecologist).- Each year, the number of people going to infertility treatment centers increases by 8-9%.- In vitro fertilization is an exceptional medical advance that can help infertile couples have children, but it is not a panacea. In vitro fertilization cannot overcome the female age factor.- No, babies don't come after 40, as we see on the glossy covers of some magazines. Or: they don't come easily. More often than not, those 40+ moms needed egg donation.- Worldwide, there are more than 12 million people conceived through in vitro fertilization. Currently, a baby conceived through IVF is born every 35 seconds. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu