Netflix film Joy tells story of Cambridge professor, nurse and gynaecologist who pioneered IVF
The premiere of Joy, a new Netflix film that tells the story of how a maverick Cambridge scientist, an ambitious gynaecologist and a modest nurse pioneered IVF, was held at the British Film Festival this week.
Starring Bill Nighy as Patrick Steptoe, James Norton as Robert Edwards and Thomasin McKenzie as Jean Purdy, the movie takes the story up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first ‘test-tube’ baby, in 1978.
The trio went on to found Bourn Hall, the world’s first IVF clinic.
Sir Robert was a professor at Churchill College, Cambridge, but his research was treated with deep suspicion as in the 1960s infertility was not considered an issue.
Speaking in 2007, he recalled: “I had to convince a lot of people, and many people wouldn’t be convinced, so it was a big fight. But when I was fighting, I wasn’t fighting for myself, I was fighting for my patients.
“When we first fertilised the egg we had to climb into the building at midnight because the eggs matured slowly, you see, and then we had to fertilise them, and that had taken six hours. Then we went to see pro-nuclei and things and that happened to be at 10 o’clock at night, so we had to go in at nine o’clock at night.
“One of us had forgotten to take the key to the gate so we climbed over the railings, and then the next day the press said there’d been a very suspicious story about us creeping about the lab at night – it’s true! They said, ‘we hear you’ve been climbing over the railings; what is secret about it?’
“Tiny little things have had wonderful endings. The day we saw the first human egg mature in vitro, we threw our hats in the air.”
Sir Robert had met Patrick Steptoe, a consultant gynaecologist from Oldham, at a conference. He was an expert in laparoscopy, a technique that could be used to find women’s eggs, and he was frustrated by the number of women he saw that were infertile as a result of blocked fallopian tubes.
They joined forces and took on Jean Purdy, a Cambridge nurse, as a laboratory technician, but she soon played a much bigger role and is credited with being the first clinical embryologist.
The NHS had refused to support the development of in-vitro fertilisation as a treatment, but the trio persisted in their efforts to get funding for a private clinic near Cambridge where they could continue their work. A secret benefactor came forward and Jean found a Jacobean manor house for sale. Bourn Hall opened in 1980.
Jean is believed to have been the first person in the world to recognise and describe the formation of the early human blastocyst, a foundational stage for embryo stem cell technology.
Her notes over a decade of research with 300 women helped lead to the breakthrough with Louise Brown.
Grace Macdonald, the mother of the second IVF baby Alastair, recalled: “Jeannie was the person in charge once the eggs had been retrieved. She was responsible for putting them in the petri dish and watching them and bringing them on. And she was just amazing, very supportive. She used to stick her head round my door, and I remember her saying ‘looking good Grace’ and giving me the thumbs up. She was the kindest, loveliest person.”
Today embryologists work across three Bourn Hall clinics in Cambridge, Norwich and Wickford.
Louise’s parents, Lesley and John Brown, were among Bourn Hall’s earliest patients. They travelled from their home in Bristol for further IVF treatment and subsequently welcomed Louise’s younger sister, Natalie.
Cambridge regional lead embryologist Adam Burnley said: “When I started at Bourn Hall in 1986 Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards were still working at the clinic and Louise was a toddler.
“During those early days, embryology was still evolving and I saw the development of techniques such as the manipulation of sperm and eggs using a micropipette under a microscope which is now a core skill for an embryologist.
“Our founders’ efforts paved the way for millions of ‘miracle births’ worldwide as their discoveries were shared generously with medical practitioners and scientists globally.
“It is an honour for all of us at Bourn Hall to continue their work today.”
Joy, which premiered on Tuesday (15 October) will be streaming on Netflix from 22 November.