WHEN I SEE A COUPLE WITH a new baby, I have no idea if the baby was conceived by them, adopted, birthed by a surrogate, or assisted by in vitro fertilization. It does not matter to me; I could not care in the least. The fact that a person wants to have and raise a child is a monumental commitment, a sacrifice in some way and comes with having an abundance of love. I do not know if it is odd or not, but growing up, I do not think anyone in my classes was anything but naturally conceived by their parents. Granted, I was not privy of any conversations and back then, people may have not wanted to share this information with outsiders. Regarding surrogates and IVF, I do not know if there were even options back then because I had never heard of such things. The only example I can recall was when I was six or seven years old, and I was told a family member was going to be a mother. The fact that I had recently seen her, I was stunned to hear the news and commented that she did not look any larger to me. Relatives had to explain to me what was adoption. After they felt like I understood what they were saying to me, I asked when the baby was arriving. THROUGH THE YEARS, I HAVE WITNESSED such a variety of different behaviors from adults when it came to either having children or their children having children; the actions run the gambit of sad to exuberant. One couple I know disowned their son because he was going to marry a woman who had diabetes. The couple was against it because they did not want their grandchild becoming a diabetic. I was flabbergasted. On the other hand, I knew a couple that desperately wanted to have a child but for whatever reason, they would not consider adoption since they could not conceive. They tried for years but to no avail. I am embarrassed to say this, but I felt it was a good thing, because they did not have the personality or internal makeup to be a parent, in my opinion. One of the reasons I say this is because I believe when one is selfish and a narcissist, they cannot be a good parent. However, I know none of this is my business; whatever a couple needs to do or not do regarding children is up to them, not me nor anyone else. When I was little, I remember hearing about baby Louisa; but I had no idea so many people had an opinion about what it took for her to get born, since I have now seen what was taking place back then, in this biographical drama based on a true story. A YOUNG NURSE, SCIENTIST AND SURGEON agree to work tougher to help couples who wish to have a child. They were not prepared for the amount of resistance coming from so many different factions of society. With Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Lost Girls) as Jean Purdy, James Norton (Little Women, Mr. Jones) as Bob Edwards, Bill Nighy (The First Omen, The Beautiful Game) as Patrick Steptoe, Rish Shah (India Sweets and Spices, Sitting in Bars with Cake) as Arun, and Adrian Lukis (The Boys in the Boat, Judy) as Professor Mason; this movie succeeded due to the cast, especially Thomasin and Adrian, and the incredible true story. I thought the pacing worked well with the mix of scenes. There was drama, tension, excitement, and sadness all mixed within the script, though I do not know how much of it was true. But it did not matter, I felt the writers presented a heartfelt story that was captivating and touching. And the result was they and everyone else involved created a movie that provided the back story to a medical miracle that is now available to thousands today.
3 ½ stars
