Director Tom Webb shines a light on the sensitive subject of infertility and the often isolating, emasculating journey of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

By Claire Bueno

‘Am I really a man because I haven’t had children yet?’ James D’Souza poses the question, in this enlightening documentary about infertility The Easy Bit.
There is no disputing that for a woman embarking on fertility treatment in the form of Assisted Reproductive Technology (A.R.T) takes a tremendous emotional and physical toll in order to bear a child. But, with as many as one in six couples affected by infertility in the UK, have we ever paid thought or attention to the male role in this process?

The Easy Bit charts the story of Richard Clothier, Leigh Acton, Gareth Down, Al-Amin Kassam, James D’Souza and Jonny Baker who bravely share their deeply personal journey through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

Director Tom Webb has used his own experience to encourage discussion, and to provide a voice to a sensitive subject should not be suffered alone.

The first and obvious question, what inspired you to want to make The Easy Bit?

My wife and I were unfortunate enough to experience our own infertility journey. We wrote a blog together charting our treatment which was intended for friends and family but ultimately was read by a much larger audience than expected. I was taken aback at how many people were not only surprised by what I was writing but by the fact I was writing it at all. There was so little information around about the male experience it made me realise that the lack of understanding was far greater than I had realised.

Having been through process personally, you have first-hand knowledge just how little material is out there on the subject of infertility from a male perspective, what made documentary the medium for you?

My career is in video production and filmmaking and I have always wanted to make feature length films, both narrative and documentary. I had been toying with a few ideas for a debut documentary but ultimately this was the film I had to make. At the time I made the decision to make the film my wife and I were at the lowest point of our journey. We thought we would never have children and I couldn’t stand the thought of going through 12 years of pain without something positive to show for it at the end. Ultimately we were lucky enough to have a daughter but I know all too well that not everyone gets their dream. It was clear to me that regardless of how my journey ended I needed to do something to help other guys going through the same experience. It is quite rare to see men talking about subjects like this and I felt that other men would really benefit from guys talking directly to them.

The film is told in chapters, the arc of the story follows the literal and emotional journey of the whole IVF process, was that how you always had structured it?

Fertility treatment is a complex and somewhat chaotic process but despite that it has a very linear structure. I felt that it would help the audience to keep track of all six stories by giving the film a single arc. I also wanted to explain the clinical process as many people may not know what is actually involved. When you are going through treatment you constantly feel like making it to the next stage of treatment is all you need to do and everything will be ok. The chapters in the film reflect those stages and any couple going through treatment will know that each one affects you in a different way, your life becomes dominated by the specific part of the process you are in. A prime example is the two week wait. It is the period between having embryos placed into the womb and taking a pregnancy test to see if treatment has worked. It is this all-consuming limbo filled with hope, anxiety and desperation. Each chapter is in reality its own unique emotional journey.

How did you begin to source your contributors?

Finding men to talk was really hard. It was almost a year into pre-production before we found any and then luck played its part. A lady called Kelly Da Silva, who runs an organisation of women who are childless not by choice, introduced me to The Fertility Network who were looking for someone to film a series of videos for a campaign called Hidden Faces. Every time I filmed a man I asked if they would like to take part in the documentary. Four of the guys came from that campaign and the other two came via those initial four. I was very adamant that there are a variety of stories told so we could talk about as many of the variations in diagnosis as possible.

You have six select contributors which allows us to invest in each individual’s story, was that always intentional?

I initially was thinking ten would be a good number but as time went on and we started filming it became very apparent that that would be too many. It was important not only to cover a variety of conditions but also that those men had time to express themselves. I wanted the audience to be able to identify and empathise with the men so stripping it back to six seemed to be the best compromise and one I am ultimately very happy with.

When it came to the interviews did you standardise the questions to help corroborate experiences?

Every couple goes through a fairly similar process for fertility treatment and because of that and the structure of the film I was able to standardise the questions to an extent. For example, one of the men used donor sperm during their treatment so he had questions specific to that which the others didn’t. I was also very careful not to write questions that would lead the guys into expressing a specific opinion. I wanted the answers to be an honest reflection of their experience and not a narrative or agenda chosen by me. Doing this helps highlight that, despite the clinical differences between the men and their diagnosis, the emotional journey is universal.

You conducted the interviews yourself, do you think your own experience helped to help disarm your contributors?

I was very open with the guys about my journey and any question I asked them they could ask me and I’d give them an answer. I felt that if I was asking them to speak up and tell the world then I will stand by them and speak too. It was really important that the guys were totally at ease in front of the camera so I tried to make everything as easy as possible for them.

Emotions are naturally very raw, were you ever tempted to switch off the camera to give your contributor privacy?

We did stop a few times. The guys had complete freedom to stop whenever they wanted or re answer questions if they felt they hadn’t communicated what they wanted to. I made sure we took regular breaks and was constantly aware of the emotional and mental pressure they were under. The last thing I wanted to do was cause them more pain and I think the safe environment we created meant they felt free to really express themselves and let it all out.