Three cheers to George Lopez star Constance Marie for her honesty about her struggle to conceive her beautiful baby girl and the impact age can have on infertility!

And welcome to little Luna Marie. You have an awesome Mom, and I know you will grow up to be an incredible human being with a mother as brave, centered, and caring as Constance Marie. Congratulations to the Happy Family!

Now I am off to write a letter to People’s editors!!

A british film, or at least filmed in the UK and based on a character living in London, the film’s heroine is in her early thirties (at the oldest, although her age is not addressed in the film unless I missed it) and is in a relationship that is struggling. On top of the bad relationship she has decided that she wants to have a baby. While her boyfriend is off filming a movie, she learns from a fertility specialist that she has “only one egg left.”

Sorry, did you miss my eyes rolling back in my head? She has ONE EGG left. PULEASE. Why can’t these writers at least do some research?????

The story next revolves around her desparate attempt to get pregnant (without her boyfriend, not that I really cared) in her next and final ovulatory cycle. Ha! No mention of using medical assistance like an IUI if this in fact her final attempt forever and ever. She’s sent home with instructions to have lots of sex (or something equally offensive given her plight).

The film’s one redeeming quality is that it now gets somewhat funny . . . the lengths she will go to in order to get pregnant and the trials and tribulations of trying to interview potential sperm donors to have sex with and/or to give her a sample is handled rather well. I did chuckle a few times. Her friends are trying to help as well, and of course her best male gay friend is put up to the task (pardon the pun, yikes!) of trying to help her get pregnant. I like silly things so this part of the film worked for me. It was, however, sadly the only part of the film I enjoyed.

Alas, nothing works out and she misses her final opportunity at getting pregnant. Her boyfirend returns home, she reveals what she has been through, they realize they are meant to be together and voila a few months later she is of course PREGNANT on her own, without assistance, and quite by accident it would seem.

I hate movies like this. I hate the “just relax” and you’ll get pregnant theme of this movie. I hate the lack of medical credibility.

I want to watch a movie that deals with this topic fairly. I want to watch something REALISTIC. Hey, there are reality shows about every other topic on the face of the earth from little people to families aith 18 children . . . adoption stories . . . baby stories . . . but no infertility stories. Why is that?

This movie gets my official thumbs down and a definite do NOT watch it if you’re infertile or know someone who is.

TGIF!

Liz

When Liz told me about her new idea for the blog – watching and reviewing movies about infertility and adoption – I thought it would be interesting to join in the project.  I, too, often get so irritated by the way Hollywood deals with these subjects.  Sometimes I even get angry – don’t get me started on the “shady adoption lawyer” cliché that spanned so many episodes of Desperate Housewives a few seasons ago (the entire way that show handled Gabriel’s infertility and subsequent “miraculous” conceptions really bothered me, but I will make that the subject of a different Hollywood post!).  So, Liz let me borrow her first movie – A Smile Like Yours, with Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly, and I thought I would post my reaction here.  

I watched this movie with some friends – none of whom have any experience with infertility (to my knowledge), so it was interesting to hear the reactions from people who were not familiar with the situations presented in this movie, as well. 

We all liked it.  Ok, it’s not Oscar-worthy or anything, but it was a cute, touching movie that, in my opinion, depicted the experiences of a couple experiencing infertility honestly and sensitively.  A brief synopsis – the movie is about a couple who, after unsuccessfully attempting conception the old fashion way, find themselves trying cycle after cycle to have a child through ART, until it puts a strain on their marriage and they need to reevaluate what they really want for their marriage and their family.  I thought they did a great job of showing just how taxing the endless doctors appointments and disappointments of numerous failed cycles can be on a relationship.  Without giving away too much of the plot (for those of you who want to see the movie), let’s just say that “another woman” threatens the marriage at one point.  When I asked the roomful of people that I was with what their opinions were after watching the movie, the first thing they said was that they couldn’t believe how much strain trying to have a child could put on a couple.  They commented on how, after all those months of trying, and all those doctors appointments and medical procedures, they can see how it would be easy to loose sight of why you are doing all this in the first place, and they understood why the couple in the movie decided to step back and take a break for a while – to rediscover themselves and their marriage, and regroup before trying again.

When Liz watched the movie, she mentioned to me that she thought the ending was misleading, and I agree.  SPOILER ALERT: Don’t continue reading if you have plans to watch this movie, because I am about to reveal the ending!!  Like I mentioned, before the end of the movie, the couple decides to take a break from trying to conceive and just enjoy being married for a while.  The next scene starts with “Two Years Later” written across the screen – and the couple is happily taking their triplets out for a joy ride (in a convertible, mind you!) and playing with them at the park. There is no mention about how they had those triplets, and anyone without knowledge of ART and infertility would likely assume that it was another one of those “Hollywood miracles” (like the formally infertile Gabriel from Desperate Housewives, or Charlotte from Sex and the City who just happened to get pregnant accidentally after years of trying and being told by doctors that they were infertile).  I, and Liz, of course, immediately assumed that they went back for at least one more IVF cycle, and this time they were successful with triplets.  So I asked the people in the room with me what they thought about this scene – how did they think the couple got pregnant?  And their initial responses were along the lines of “they just relaxed about it and it happened.” Hmm….they just relaxed and had triplets on their own?  Not likely.  I explained the more likely scenario to my friends, who then agreed that I was probably right.  It is unfortunate that this otherwise well-done movie helped perpetrate the “just relax and it will happen” stereotype that seems to permeate so much of Hollywood (on-screen and off).

So…with that said, overall I would recommend this movie.  With the exception of the last scene, I think they did a great job portraying the life of a couple dealing with infertility.   I just wish they would have made the correct ending a little clearer – maybe the screen should have read “Two Years – and 2 more IVF cycles – later.”  That probably would have been more accurate!