Joy review: the birth of IVF

Joy is based on the true story of how IVF came to be. It documents several years of struggle that a scientist, a gynecologist, and a nurse went through to find a way to make it work and see the first child born of IVF. Since then over 12 million babies have been born by IVF.

Joy stars James Norton as Dr. Bob Edwards, the scientist who thought IVF was possible. Working with him was Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy), a doctor skilled in laparoscopic surgery who Edwards thought could implant the embryos successfully. The nurse working with them was Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie). The two men attributed the success of their work to Jean Purdy.

Also prominent in the story was another nurse, Matron (Tanya Moodie), who kept the rundown wreck of a hospital they used going. Since this character wasn’t given a full name, I’m not sure she was a real historical person.

The work took years. When word got out to the public about what they were attempting to do the world turned against them. Jean’s own mother (Joanna Scanlan) refused to let her daughter in her home. Television and radio programs condemned them. Even other scientists spoke out against what they were doing.

Finally, in 1978, a baby girl conceived by IVF was born to Lesley Brown (Ella Bruccoleri) and John Brown (Douggie McKeekin), a working class couple. The little girl was named Louise Joy Brown, and she is an activist for IVF to this day.

The Browns and all the other couples featured in the film who desperately wanted a child were ordinary working class people. I think it’s a shame that IVF services (at least in the U.S.) are prohibitively expensive to everyone but the rich now.

According to a comment I saw from someone who knew Jean Purdy personally, her backstory was not accurately portrayed. The film made her into what would have been called a loose woman in those days, which she was not. Why male screenwriters think it’s okay to do this to women is beyond me.

As a biographical slice of history, the film was a success. The dedication of the people involved in the face of such opposition is worthy of praise. The cast was outstanding, especially when you consider that they were playing nerdy science characters who stared in microscopes a lot.

Thanks to these dedicated scientists, 12 million women who wanted desperately to have children have been able to have them. That’s quite a legacy. Their story is worth watching. It’s streaming on Netflix.