Thirty-something couple Jane and Charlie have long given up on having a baby the fun way. They have also given up on having a baby the medically invasive way too. But while they lack the genetic components to make a child, they refuse to give up on being parents together.
After many failed rounds of infertility treatments, season two of How to Buy a Baby finds Jane and Charlie in the throes of adoption, a process steeped in paperwork, parenting classes, home inspections and difficult decisions about just how far they are willing to go to become parents. Darkly funny and achingly honest, season two of How to Buy a Baby will follow Jane and Charlie as they navigate adoption.
We talked with Wendy Litner, the Creator and Writer of How to Buy a Baby (S2) (CAN) about her series and how it is exploring a serious topic like infertility with comedy.
Why did you decide on the web-series format?
The subject of infertility can be intense and web series can allow you to singularly focus on a subject-matter, an A-story, in a way that longer form can’t. I also really love the intimacy of web series and the punchiness of the format. It was such a new medium when we set out to make this and so there was also a feeling of being unconstrained in how to tell the story.
What made you interested in telling this story?
My husband and I painfully struggled with infertility for many years and despite the fact that 1 in 6 couples in Canada are diagnosed with infertility (15 of every 100 couples in Australia), there was still so much secrecy surrounding it. We felt so isolated and alone, inundated with pregnancy announcements on Facebook. I didn’t want anyone else to feel similarly alone. I wanted to lend my voice to this narrative of struggling to be parents and I loved the idea of fictionalizing mine and my husband’s experienced with infertility, drawing on what has happened to us and tweaking it into a new story.
How to Buy a Baby (S2) Trailer
What was your greatest challenge creating the series?
At first it was convincing funders that people would watch a comedy about infertility. There was a sense that perhaps people didn’t want to laugh at something so painful. I felt like humour was an important coping mechanism for me in my own struggle and I believed, deep down in my ovaries, that there were others who were similarly laughing at their partner having to give them shots in their butt.
Did you have any difficulties in creating a season 2?
We shot season 2 in the peak of winter here in Toronto, Canada with freezing temperatures and snow squalls. It was a good thing that our incredible leads, Meghan Heffern and Marc BenDavid could warm an entire set with their smiles. They and the rest of our cast and crew were such amazing troopers filming outside in the freezing cold!
Would you say the series is character or story focused?
I think the series is character and relationship focused. The central plot question is quite simple: will they or won’t they get to be parents. But I think the true focus of the story is their marriage and their love for each other.
What is your favourite part of the series?
Our theme song, written by the amazing composer Aimee Bessada, plays over the title cards and every time I hear it my heart beats fast! It just so perfectly encapsulates the soul of this story and all that I was trying to say.
I also really love the last scene of both seasons which were brilliantly directed by Molly McGlynn and then Adriana Maggs.
What is the future for your series?
I am so grateful to have gotten to make two seasons of this story and share this couple’s life through infertility and adoption. We are currently exploring a half hour version and ways to bring the web series outside of Canada.
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