On July 12, 1984, Victoria Anna, the first test tube girl in Spain. This summer, he turned 40 years old. His birth marked a before and after for reproductive medicine in our country. The procedure was carried out in the Dexeus Hospital of Barcelona with doctors Anna Veiga and Pedro Barri at the helm. Victoria Anna was the first, but today thousands of births in Spain occur thanks to assisted reproduction.
According to the Bernabeu InstituteSpain concentrates 15% of the total in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments of Europe, and has become the country with the highest volume of IVF cycles on the continent by exceeding the 165,000 cases per year. The center specialized in assisted reproduction points out that, among the reasons for this Spanish dominance in the area of fertility, we find a general age delay in which women decide to be mothers, and a favorable legislation that has allowed Spain to be an international reference.
Today, the infertility problem It remains a reality for millions of women. According to the WHO, between 48 million couples and 186 million people worldwide suffer from infertility.
A medical (and social) advance
New reproductive techniques, such as in vitro fertilization, allow thousands of people to fulfill their desire to be parents today. However, this procedure has not always been so popular or seen so favorably.
This is a relatively recent technique: birth of the first test tube baby in the world occurred in 1978just 46 years ago. At that time, she was received with skepticism and rejection by a part of society, which considered it controversial and even immoralsince it defied the traditional norms about reproduction and family.
In this way, in the medical field, in vitro fertilization represented a milestone for scienceby offering a solution for infertility problems. However, it also involved a significant social changesince its acceptance and normalization required a process of cultural adaptation.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown. Her conception was the result of research carried out by Nobel Laureate Robert Edwards, shown holding her in this photo. Since then his work has helped millions bring new life into the world. pic.twitter.com/8DzZPFCbGx
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) July 25, 2018
The milestone reaches Netflix
In 1978 it came into the world Louise Joy Brownthe first girl born by in vitro fertilization on the planet. Now a movie Netflix delves fully into this story to tell us what the creation and development of this assisted reproduction technique, pioneering at that time, was like.
Joy is directed by Ben Taylordirector of series such as Sex Education either Catastrophe. There is also a personal story in the choice of subject: he and his wife have two children conceived through in vitro fertilization. The film stars Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighywho play the nurse and embryologist Jean Purdythe scientist Robert Edwards and the surgeon Patrick Steptoethe three real characters in this story.
The first reviews of the film
As the platform states on its website, Joy “celebrates the power of perseverance and the wonders of science as it follows this maverick trio of visionaries who overcame tremendous hardship and opposition to make their dream a reality, and in doing so enabled millions of people to dream about it.”
He british newspaper Guardianwho agreed to watch the film at the London Film Festivaldefines the feature film as “an accessible and human account of a great moment in scientific history.” The Hollywood Reporter He has also shared his own review. [La película] It will touch the hearts of many parents whose lives have been changed (and in the case of their children, made possible) thanks to those ten long years of dedication that led to the breakthrough in in vitro fertilization.”
JOY arrives on Netflix on Nov 22. With Thomasin McKenzie, Bill Nighy and James Norton.
Based on a true story, this drama follows three pioneering British scientists in the ’60s and ’70s and their struggle to develop IVF. pic.twitter.com/fAeyK54qIQ
— cinemaland (@thecinemaland) November 18, 2024
Available from this November 22 on Netflix, Joy It will allow us to know first-hand how one of the most important scientific advances in the history of medicine was developed.
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