Joy is on Netflix now and the inspirational film follows Jean Purdy (played by Thomasin McKenzie) as she McKenzie) applies for a job managing a research lab in Cambridge, England, in 1968. She has no idea just how crucial her role will be within the history-making team that pioneered IVF.
Jean is hired by visionary scientist Bob Edwards (James Norton) and the pair develop a close working relationship. Together, they persuade renowned surgeon Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy) to help make an extraordinary breakthrough in IVF
Even after Patrick joins the mission, others within the world of science and medicine remain sceptical. With minimal funding, Jean’s role becomes more complex as she faces a decade-long mission.
Jean Purdy’s pivotal role in this life-changing discovery has largely been overlooked until now, but Joy hopes to celebrate her invaluable contribution to science.
Here is all you need to know about what happened to the world’s first embryologist.
Jean Purdy at the Bourn Hall Fertility Clinic (Image: PA)
The real Jean Purdy played a significant and increasingly vital role in the discovery of IVF and it was Jean who first saw that a fertilised egg was dividing to make new cells.
Jean was a co-author on 26 papers with Steptoe and Edwards and a total of 370 IVF children were conceived during her career.
Tragically, she died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital when she was just 39 years old, back in March 1985. She had only been ill for a short time with skin cancer.
Even when she was battling illness, a room was arranged for her at the Bourn Hall Clinic where she could work.
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Thomasin McKenzie as Jean Purdy in Netflix’s Joy (Image: NETFLIX)
Jean was buried in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, beside her mother and grandmother.
University College London named their award for the MRes Reproductive Science and Women’s Health after her.
Despite being a central figure in the development of IVF, Jean’s contributions were often overlooked, potentially due to her early death.
When it was suggested a plaque be put up to record the achievement, on two occasions it omitted Jean’s role.
Eventually in 2018, to mark the 40th anniversary of IVF, Bourn Hall unveiled a memorial to Jean, which reads the “world’s first IVF nurse and embryologist. Co-founder of Bourn Hall Clinic”.
Joy is airing on now.