When I first heard a podcast interview with Louise Pleasure Brown, the first baby born through in vitro fertilization, one detail stood out: When her father realized what the hyper-experimental procedure would cost, he went to the racetrack and made a bet. I loved the fact that because of his and his wife’s powerful desire to have children after trying unsuccessfully for a decade, a gambler took to the track to decide their fate.
That bet paid off and the result is recounted in The new Netflix movie “Joy“, which culminates with Brown’s birth in 1978. Starring Thomasin McKenzie as researcher and nurse Jean Purdy, Invoice Nighy as obstetrician Patrick Steptoe, James Norton as biologist Robert Edwards and Tanya Moodie as Muriel, a supervisor of operating room, the film tells how the group worked for several years to make the unproven a reality: that an egg can be fertilized outside the body, become an embryo, then implant again inside and eventually result in a live birth.
As someone who has experienced multiple rounds of IVF and my own fertility strugglesI went through a lot of emotions (no pun intended) while watching “Pleasure.” It’s always amazing to witness what cells do under a microscope and how these concepts (like follicles) manifest in modern life. Above all, I finished the film feeling hopeful and motivated, with an immense sense of gratitude for the revolutionary science that fueled these treatments. Below are five additional takeaways from “Pleasure” that anyone dealing with infertility can appreciate.
1. Pioneers took significant risks
It’s hard to imagine a world before reproductive assistance was the norm. In the film, Edwards (the scientist) faces backlash when he tries to get his work recognized by the health board and is told that infertility is a “niche” problem. He talks about his job on talk shows and gets booed and booed before he can finish explaining it. Purdy (the researcher and nurse) temporarily loses contact with her mother and the church (more on this below). I can’t help but think of all the fertility workers who have faced scrutiny and threats simply for going to work. Everyone in this profession takes some type of risk in the name of helping raise families.
2. Community help
Anyone struggling with fertility will tell you that having a like-minded support system around you makes all the difference. I have friends who are currently going through or have gone through fertility treatments. They’ve been invaluable support, whether it’s thoughtfully texting at just the right moment, lending me containers to hold medications, or literally helping me inject hormones into my skin. This was true in the film, as the first “class” of IVF patients called themselves Ovum Membership. Purdy would take them to the beach or simply listen to their fears and insecurities during dates. No matter the decade, it’s important to surround yourself with people you can identify with.
3. Women went through hell
Until the filming of the film in 1974, in vitro fertilization was only studied in hamsters, so the bravery of these women to volunteer as patients is astonishing. Although advanced for the time, this medical care is still almost 50 years old: we’re talking giant needles, invasive abdominal surgeries, and heartbreaking statistics. Admittedly, some moments in the film seem cloying and Hallmark-coded, but “Pleasure” doesn’t shy away from the intensely painful, gory, and almost torturous nature of these proceedings. IVF is hard enough in 2024, so huge kudos to the women who endured it in 1974.
4. Religious fanatics will become fanatics
The religious dominance of rural England in the 1970s underpins the entire film. Purdy attended church every Sunday with his mother, who stopped speaking to him because of her job at the Oldham Human Reproduction Center. He also received death threats in the mail, including dolls painted with the word “sinner.” A few years later, when the first IVF baby was born in the United States (Elizabeth Carr), the Pope called her “a daughter of the devil.” With that as a backdrop, it’s a true miracle (ahem) that this medical work took off and came to fruition. What is disheartening is how this evangelical conservatism still plays a role in reproductive freedoms today.
5. Reproductive care has continued to innovate
One of the most powerful emotional moments in the film is when we discover that Purdy cannot get pregnant due to endometriosis. Dr. Steptoe examines her and reveals that science is not there yet. Today, many endometriosis patients can have healthy children thanks to IVF and other fertility treatments. We no longer use the terms “test tube babies” or “designer babies” – patients are now offered pre-implantation genetic testing and frequent ultrasounds to monitor pregnancies, all to ensure the best possible outcome: a live birth and healthy.
Unfortunately, all of these advances are threatened by our current political landscape, where infighting has caused us to lose sight of the entire purpose of IVF. “Pleasure” reminds us of the power of couples who want to have a child so much that they are willing to be part of experimental trials, cross borders and, yes, bet everything in their bank account to achieve it.
Surely, those are parents who don’t need additional obstacles to get there.