In vitro fertilization is a hot topic in the country right now, as it has been linked to the abortion debate in the run towards the Presidential election. While the process is fairly common for families, there was a time when it was virtually impossible to consider. The upcoming Netflix drama Joy goes back to that time and the steps leading to the first baby born using IVF.
Starring Thomasin McKenzie as Jean Purdy, Bill Nighy as Patrick Steptoe, and James Norton as Robert Edwards, Joy centers on the British scientists and nurses who developed the first IVF treatment, leading to the birth of the first “test tube baby” Louise Joy Brown.
The film is directed by Ben Taylor from a script by Jack Thorne. Thorne is the busy writer behind Harry Potter and the Curse Child, Wonder, the Enola Holmes films, and The Aeronauts.
SYNOPSIS: Joy tells the remarkable true story behind the ground-breaking birth of Louise Joy Brown in 1978, the world’s first ‘test-tube- baby’, and the tireless 10-year journey to make it possible. Told through the perspective of Jean Purdy, a young nurse and embryologist, who joined forces with scientist Robert Edwards and surgeon Patrick Steptoe to unlock the puzzle of infertility by pioneering in vitro fertilization (IVF). The film celebrates the power of perseverance and the wonders of science as it follows this maverick trio of visionaries who overcame tremendous odds and opposition to realize their dream, and in doing so allowed millions of people to dream with them.
Netflix premieres Joy exclusively on November 22nd.
