It's The Hope That Kills YouA Film by Tim Royle

And now for our alternative nativity story.

This award winning short film from Tim Royle is about his personal experience of fertility treatment. Tim has made many films for us as well as being a director on Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emmerdale Farm.

Sarah and Chris await their tenth embryo transfer, but have they lost all Hope.

This is a personal story about going through IVF and is based on true events.

IVF never guarantees you a child, it just gives you the hope that you might. As a male going through the process I began to feel unimportant and marginalised, almost an invisible figure. I can count on one hand how many times I was called by name. All help was to my partner, she was the centre of it all. However we always saw it as a team effort in order to succeed, we had to stick together. You need to find incredible strength, courage, and belief to keep going, to keep trying. For me it triggered severe anxiety, something which I now deal with daily, and I wrote this script as part therapy back in 2021 after our tenth failed transfer.

I wanted the film to highlight the struggle of going through IVF, to
educate people how hard it is. Allow people going through IVF to feel seen. Or a film to send to friends who don’t understand. Maybe it can change the way men are treated in the process. Male feelings are just as valid.

Above all I wanted to give Hope to people to keep going.

A like and a share can help the conversation to get started.

There was very little resources when we were going through IVF, but the organisations below have been very supportive. If you need help, a chat, info, the below people are good people and there to help, and fighting for fertility change.

Fertility Action fertilityaction.org
Hannah Pearn hannahpearn.com
Big Fat Negative www.bigfatnegative.com
The Fertility podcast www.thefertilitypodcast.com
Test Him www.testhim.com