“It was my wife Gabby who first suggested that I research the history of the science that had made our children possible.” Writer Gareth Farr
30 May 2024
A Child of Science is a play about so many things.
It’s about hope, it’s about never giving up, it’s about chance and endeavour and dogged determination. It’s about achieving the impossible. But above all it is a play of thanks. Thanks to the people who fought against waves of scepticism and negativity to achieve something unbelievable. Thanks to the selfless and brave women who volunteered to be part of the trials; without knowing what was involved or what the possible outcomes might be. They offered their bodies to progress the science in the belief that one day there would be an answer to human infertility. When I put my children to bed every night, I do just that. I thank them all, because without them and their tenacity… well I don’t really want to think about that.
I started writing A Child of Science not long after my daughters were born. After my wife (and I) experienced three failed rounds of IVF, an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, we were finally gifted two amazing twin girls. It took a lot. We had to fight so hard to get our girls and they are loved all the more for it.
I think anyone with IVF children knows that fight and knows that love. It was my wife Gabby who first suggested that I research the history of the science that had made our children possible and when I did, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was amazing to me that this true, British story of perseverance and endurance wasn’t already known. I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t taught in schools and part of our collective consciousness.
The more I read, the more twists and turns and moments of true, authentic tension there were. It felt like an exciting and important story to write. To maintain that excitement and drama and tension I spent years researching the events that led to IVF. I began to build a detailed background from which I could write the fictionalised version of these true events.
We now live in a time of possibility, where people who are unable to have children, for whatever reason, have a chance. Without Bob Edwards, Jean Purdy, Patrick Steptoe, two hundred and eighty-two women volunteers and countless others who funded, supported and guided their work, that chance would not exist. Twelve million babies world-wide would not exist. We would all be living in a very, very different world. A Child of Science is a love letter to them all.
