The Family Man comes to ´óÏó´«Ã½ ONE in March, ´óÏó´«Ã½ ONE, Thursday 23 March, 9.00pm
Introduction
´óÏó´«Ã½
ONE's The Family Man,
set in the highly emotive world of the fertility industry, takes viewers
on a moving journey through the highs and lows, joys and sorrows of
trying to have a baby through IVF.
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The story centres on the charismatic Dr Patrick Stowe (Trevor
Eve) and the private fertility clinic that he runs.
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It also follows the touching stories of four couples who,
each for their own uniquely personal reasons, turn to him for help
in making their dreams come true.
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Producer Sarah Brown says: "More and more couples are using IVF to try and have babies, science is developing apace and what is considered morally acceptable is changing all the time.
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"By exploring the very emotional stories of four couples
as they navigate their way through the world of IVF, The Family Man takes
a human and accessible look at some of the key questions facing the
industry and our society – where do the rights and wrongs lie?
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"Should boundaries
be crossed if that is right for the individual patient? And where
should the pursuit of the perfect baby end?"
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It's a question that writer Tony Marchant confronts in the
character of Stowe, the successful and dedicated fertility expert.
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Stowe's sometimes unorthodox methods enable Marchant to turn
the microscope on the complex ethics at play in the fertility business.
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Patrick Stowe is passionate and principled. Over the years
he has helped hundreds of couples to have babies of their own, even
though his own parenting skills leave a lot to be desired.
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More at home
in the clinic, Patrick is ploughing his way through a sea of constantly
evolving technologies and shifts in ethical opinion, but whole-heartedly
believes that each couple's case deserves the right to be judged
individually and that blanket rules should not apply.
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It's a belief that
increasingly puts him at odds with many of his colleagues but could
ultimately put his own health and happiness in danger.
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"Patrick is a man having to deal with not only the emotional demands of his patients,
the commercial pressures of running a clinic and his own scientific ambitions,
but also the fact that science and technology are moving at such a pace that
it's undermining previous moral and ethical codes," explains Marchant.
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"What
was right is now considered old hat, and what was wrong is now allowable.
In that sense it becomes harder to get a proper footing morally because it's
moving at such a bewildering pace.
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"He's very good at making children, but he's not very good at either bringing
them up or knowing how families work, or how the children he makes become
members of a family. That's one of his problems."
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Michelle Collins and Peter
McDonald play Gillian and Steve.
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Gillian is a forty-something who has achieved two out of
her three goals in life; she's a financially and emotionally secure
woman - happily ensconced with her partner and running her own beauty
salon.
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But supermarket aisles crowded with the buggy brigade, and
a failed attempt to find a Romanian egg donor, bring home the harsh
reality that her chances of motherhood might have been left a bit too late.
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Impatient to get things moving, Gillian turns to the internet
and finds an egg donor.
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Kelly (Daniela Denby-Ashe), a student, is up
to her eyes in debt, and despite the fact it's illegal, sees selling
her eggs to Gillian as the answer to her problems.
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It seems like the
perfect solution all round but none of them have reckoned on the
unexpected and profound emotional impact it will have on their lives.
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Claire
Skinner and Dominic Rowan play Natalie and Matthew.
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After numerous
unsuccessful attempts at IVF, the desperate couple plead with
Patrick to bend the rules on embryo implantation. If he decides to help
them, it could give them a higher chance of conceiving but at what cost?
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After battling through many disappointments, can they come
to terms with their situation, how will they cope with an impossible
dilemma, and more importantly, are they prepared for the risks?
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Katy Cavanagh and Lee
Ross play bus driver Tina and her partner Gary.
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Already stepfather
to Tina's daughter from her previous relationship, Gary longs
for a child of his own.
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Despite being strapped for cash, the pair determinedly
attempt every possible route they can to conceive, until discovering
the hard way that, however much money it costs, IVF can't always
provide the answer.
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With a relationship buckling under both financial
and emotional strain, and confused about where the problems lie,
Tina is forced to put her own parentage under scrutiny and finally
face up to a past that she has kept buried from everyone she loves.
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Sara
Powell and Lennie James play Jane and Paul Jessop.
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Paul is guilt ridden
and haunted by the tragic death of his young son. He and his wife still
have three wonderful daughters, but nothing can fill the hole left
by little Nick - except having another boy.
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With Paul genetically predisposed
to producing females, their chances are unlikely. Dr Patrick Stowe
has the technological means to help them, but with an ethical committee
plus the weight of public opinion against them, can they – and should they – succeed in selecting
the sex of their future child?
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"The experience of the couples is obviously traumatic and a rollercoaster, but
that's true for almost everyone that
goes in for IVF", says Marchant.
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"But
you see them coming out the other
side, so ultimately there is quite a redemptive message in there."
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The three-part drama also offers food for thought.
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"It's really about the kind
of parents we want to be," Marchant
continues. "How much choice do we
need and how much can we handle before
it becomes sinister and irresponsible?
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"Genetics and fertility treatment
have never been more closely linked so it's tempting for people to think
they can order up the right kind of child, but we also have to be
prepared for outcomes that are less than perfect.
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"If we are lucky enough
to become parents – either through
fertility treatment or naturally – it
is on the understanding that we have to love the children that we
have."
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But, he concludes, no matter the advances, some things fundamentally
remain the same.
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"With
all
the
scientific
and
technological
changes
coupled
with
the
social
cultural
changes
of
the
last
few
years,
the
whole
nature
of
families
is
changing.
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"They're
not
about
flesh
and
blood
at
all,
but
at
the
love
you
bring
to
bear
on
the
people
that
are
around
you,
or
the
children
you
are
responsible
for."
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SA
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