Infertility at the Movies

The movie adaptation of the P. D. James novel, “Children of Men,” was released in December of last year to great critical acclaim. The movie, starring Clive Owen and Michael Caine, was nominated for three Academy Awards. Set in England in the near future the story is about a world in which all women on earth have become unable to conceive. This movie parallels the story line of two other popular movies, “Aeon Flux” (2005) starring Charlize Theron and “Handmaid’s Tale” (1990) starring Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. In each of the movies some unknown environmental factor has caused widespread infertility leading to the populations being controlled by authoritarian governments.
Fortunately, the real world of fertility treatment is far more positive than the world of science fiction. Modern fertility medicine is making constant advances due to careful scientific experimentation and observation. Rather than taking place against the backdrop of authoritarian regimes, fertility treatment is at the forefront of reproductive freedom. Finally, unlike these three movies, infertility is just as often caused by male rather than female factors, as was the case of the character played by Woody Allen in another Michael Caine movie “Hannah and Her Sisters.” That movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards® and, unlike “Children of Men”, won three.
Readers may also be interested in looking at the entries in the International Infertility Film Festival (March 31, 2007) at infertilityfilmfestival.blogspot.com. The site shows an interesting series of short films on coping with infertility and infertility treatment.