Joy OTT release date: When and where to watch true story of the birth of IVF

In 1978, in what will be seen as a breakthrough in infertility treatment, the first test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown is born. This was the result of a tireless 10-year-long journey, amid trials and tribulations, by a British trio of visionaries, who persevered with single-minded focus to achieve what was thought hitherto impossible – give childless couples hope and the joy of parenthood.

Joy, the tale of 1st IVF baby, comes to Netflix

This tale, of how the first test-tube baby came to be, as the result of pioneering research by a surgeon, scientist and embryologist is what the upcoming film Joy is all about. Directed by Ben Taylor, with screenplay by Jack Thorne who developed the story with his wife Rachel Mason and Emma Gordon & Shaun Topp, Joy, starring Bill Nighy, James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie, as surgeon Patrick Steptoe, scientist Robert Edwards and nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy, respectively, the film is coming to Netflix on November 22.

A trailer for the film was released recently and explores how the trio came to work together, despite opposition to their cause. “We’re going to help make babies”, is the motto that Norton’s Robert Edwards follows, as he puts his motley group of researchers together. The possibility of making things better for women unable to conceive naturally is what draws McKenzie’s Purdy to the project.

Naysayers call their work disgusting and wrong, while even the scientific community questions whether their quest is in the interest of science, and yet, the trio remain steadfast in their resolve to get to the first of many.

The film is set between the 60s and 70s culminating in the human trials and the birth of baby Louise Joy Brown. It will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 15, followed by a limited UK theatrical release on November 15 and a worldwide streaming outing on Netflix a week later.