Showing how the process of IVF came to be is at the center of Netflix’sJoy, and from that it’s evident how the babies eventually delivered had never been conceived in test tubes, however, that was the name that sticked. Throughout the biographical drama, Bob and Jean are often mesmerized by the progress achieved during the fertilization of the egg outside the womb, especially seeing the cells form. The development of the IVF process is the focus ofJoy, and the drama has a factual approach that greatly clashes with the sensationalist attitude of the press as shown inJoy.
IVF babies being called test tube babies was as much part of thereal story behindJoyas of the drama, withJoyoften intently showing the fury of the public during talk-shows, of the scientists Bob knew negatively commenting his research, and of the press, all directed at Bob, Jean and Patrick. While Bob tried to prompt his detractors to empathize with the infertile people IVF was supposed to help, the common answer was to dismiss IVF, viewing it as tampering with nature.Joyalso made a point to highlight how IVF babies were disparagingly called test tube babies.
Joy 2024 Cast & Real-Life Character Comparison Guide
The 2024 movie Joy features a talented cast that helps recreate the story and impact of one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in history.
“Test Tube Baby” Is Based On The Incorrect Notion That Embryos Are Created In Test Tubes
How IVF Worked Wasn’t Widely Known At The Time
While referring to babies born via IVF as test tube babies has waned through the years, it was very popular at the time before and after Louise Joy Brown’s birth. Indeed, if before her birth the focus was more on the practice of creating test tube babies with the alarm that came with that, after Louise Brown’s birth, she became known as the world’s first test tube baby. The term test tube baby is nonetheless erroneous.Rather than happening in a test tube, embryos form in a petri dishwith IVF.
[Steptoe, Purdy and Edwards not publishing any article] contributed to misinformation about IVF, which let the test tube baby terminology persist.
However, not much was known abouthow IVF actually workedat the time when the news focused on IVF births. Moreover,Steptoe, Purdy and Edwards didn’t publish articles about the specific process for IVF until several months after Alastair MacDonald was born, because they wanted to be sure it could be replicated (viaBourn Hall). This contributed to the misinformation about IVF, and coupled with the public’s general distrust, it made sense that the erroneous terminology persisted, especially after being used for so long in the first years since IVF’s development.
What The Real Louise Joy Brown Has Said About Being Called The “First Test Tube Baby”
Louise Joy Brown Never Liked Being Referred To As Such
Louise Joy Brown admitted to “hate the word test tube baby,”despite being used to being called that, having always been referred to as such (via Sky News). Her being the first baby born through IVF meantLouise Brown’s life after the events ofJoywould have always been connected to the scientific breakthrough. Despite not liking the terminology, Brown happily advocated for IVF, becoming an activist and even writing her autobiography, necessarily intertwined with the story of IVF whose adaptationJoyaptly brought to the screen.
Sources: Bourn Hall,Sky News
Joy
Joy (2024) is a film directed by Ben Taylor, focusing on the challenges faced by a nurse, a scientist, and a surgeon as they confront societal and institutional resistance in their pioneering effort to achieve the world’s first test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown.
