Born and notborn

Based on some elements from the therapy of a child conceived by an in-vitro fertilization process which involved embryonic reduction, the author explores the symbolic meaning of the brother who died before birth in the make-up of the surviving child's identity and gender identity. This is an opportunity for the author to report on the latest progress made in the field of in utero observation and the hypotheses emerging as to the birth of psychic life and the object relationship. The constellation of the archetype of the fraternal supplies a psychic substratum from which the feeling of identity and other-ness will arise. However, according to the author, it may also be conducive to the birth of the shadow, in parallel with the constitution of the ego.