Births of the Future

Long seen as a miracle solution, in vitro fertilization (IVF) remains a challenging journey, with a success rate of 30-40% per cycle. This episode follows a couple's emotional and medical struggle with infertility, illustrating the sacrifices and hopes associated with this technology. Beyond the individual stories, it questions the impact of IVF on parenthood, medicine and future generations.

Assisted reproduction is transforming parenthood through sperm, egg and embryo donation and surrogate motherhood (GPA). This episode explores the journeys of those who have recourse to it, and unveils a global market where laws and practices vary. Between medical advances and ethical issues, it examines the impact of these new forms of conception on parenthood, children's rights and the evolution of our family models.

The artificial womb could redefine birth and parenthood. Designed to save very premature babies, it raises major ethical issues: fetal viability, the right to abortion, social equality and the redefinition of the mother-child bond. Will it offer greater freedom or accentuate inequalities? This episode explores the promises and pitfalls of a scientific breakthrough that concerns the whole of society.

Initially designed to preserve the fertility of patients suffering from serious illnesses, egg cryopreservation is now being used to postpone motherhood by a few years. This advance promises freedom and control, but raises questions about its real effectiveness, high cost and ethical framework. Between medical progress and commercial logic, this episode questions the transformation of fertility into a commodity to be preserved, monetized and potentially exploited.

Thanks to advances in genetics, preimplantation diagnosis and DNA modification can help prevent certain hereditary diseases. By following the journey of a couple faced with a genetic mutation, this episode raises an essential debate: where do we draw the line between medical prevention and embryo selection? At the dawn of a scientific revolution, what are the moral and social implications of these new technologies for the future of reproduction?

Infertility, which affects one couple in six, is a harrowing journey involving intrusive diagnoses, complex treatments and profound emotional impact. This episode explores its causes - biological, environmental and lifestyle-related - while questioning inequalities in care. In the face of declining natural fertility, it highlights the medical and societal issues that are redefining our relationship with parenthood.