Australian
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Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows a woman, Dael, at the Prahran swimming pool in Melbourne, as she talks about how she and her husband, Fred, arrived at the decision to adopt their Korean son, Joel. They had difficulty conceiving and had opted for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. Dael describes the IVF experience as stressful, especially when the treatment proved unsuccessful, and talks about the pool as a great comfort and place of support. A scene shows Dael and Fred in South Korea, meeting their son for the first time. Dael, Fred and Joel are then seen at the pool. Scenes at the pool and in South Korea are blended with interviews and overlayed by Dael describing the experience in a voice-over.

Educational value points

• The clip tells the story of a couple who unsuccessfully underwent IVF treatment, a treatment sometimes used for infertility when other methods of conceiving have failed. The IVF process involves controlling the ovulatory process with hormones, removing ova (eggs) from the woman’s ovaries, and fertilising them with sperm outside the body in a test tube. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred to the woman’s uterus. A major complication of IVF is increased risk of multiple births. Since the 1978 birth of Louise Brown, the first 'test-tube baby’, IVF has resulted in the births of more than 1 million babies worldwide.

• The issue of infertility and some solutions, such as IVF and overseas adoption are the major focus of the clip. The number of children adopted from outside Australia is increasing. Of the 585 adoptions of children in Australia in 2004–05, 74 per cent (434) were of children from outside Australia, with 22 per cent (96) coming from South Korea. Most adoptive parents are more than 35 years old and married.

• The couple shown are in the process of adopting a baby, a process that in spite of overseas adoptions is becoming less common. A House of Representatives inquiry in 2005 found that the incidence of adoption in Australia has declined 5 per cent since the 1970s. According to the inquiry, this is due to several factors, including young unmarried women having greater access to contraceptive pills (access was initially restricted to married women), an increase in the number of sex education classes and family planning centres, an increase in the number of women in the workforce, an increase in the number of childcare places, and an anti-adoption culture developing in Australia that means that children tend to be placed in foster care, rather than put up for adoption.

• A local council swimming pool is portrayed as a place of community, friendship and family. Manager Jim Harley opened the Prahran swimming pool with a vision of a place where everyone, no matter who they were, would feel welcome. Places like this, which have an inclusive culture and spirit of community, are important because, among other things, they can help to provide a network of support and encourage sustained connections between people.

• Through effective editing, the clip blends location footage with short interviews and voice-over to create an effective narrative. This editing is a fine example of the craft of director Polly Watkins. Prahran 3181: Swimming in the Backyard (2001) was her first documentary and in 2005 she directed her second, Vietnam Nurses.

Dael’s voice-over is heard over footage of Fred and Dael at the pool cafeteria and Dael swimming laps.
Dael At the end of summer, when the pool closed, I used to think, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be great if I come back pregnant?’ And then it became evident that Fred and I were having problems falling pregnant. We went onto the IVF. The IVF was a very, very stressful time of our lives and that lasted probably about five years. There was one point where you have to ring the clinic and find out if it was a success and I remember ringing and the answer was no and I was really, really upset and feeling that way, that sad, the water is a great comforter and just being able to swim – you swim it out.

We see Dael being interviewed.
Dael Trying to fall pregnant was always in my thoughts but being able to swim and knowing the people here knew what we were going through was a tremendous support as well.

Dael’s voice-over plays over footage of Dael and Fred meeting Joel.
Dael Eventually we decided to adopt and now we’ve got a child from Korea. The first time we saw Joel, he just looked around and smiled at us. It was a very overwhelming feeling because you didn’t know him but, from that smile, he really connected with us and it was wonderful – he was our son from that moment on.

Dael, Fred and Joel are all in the swimming pool. Joel squeals as he tries to swim.
Dael C’mon, Joel, c’mon. Kick, kick!
Dael (voice-over) Then we took him the following week back to Melbourne and he was brought to the pool straightaway.
Joel Look at me, Mum.
Fred Yes.
Dael (voice-over) And now Joel’s part of the furniture – he really is. He will grow up here.