A Workplace Novel About 'Embryologists' Who Begin Life 《#CreativeAwardReview》
Babies are cute, aren't they?
To be honest, there was a time when I didn't think so myself.
Maybe it's my age, but I find them incredibly adorable now.
They are small, their heads are large compared to their adult proportions, and they are still such fragile beings. Babies, even if they aren't my own, evoke a sense of endearment.
I find myself wanting to watch over them, thinking, 'Grow up healthy. Grow up big.'
If such small babies are cute, then, well...
Doesn't it make sense that the beginning of life, which is even smaller, would seem even cuter?
Huh?
If you're thinking, '#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout', then...
Please, try reading this novel.
Strangely enough, it makes you feel exactly that way.
It's incredibly cute and makes you want to root for them.
Sperm and eggs!!
That novel is right here.
Finding sperm and eggs cute... This isn't a silly story.
This is a workplace novel that shines a light on the profession of an 'Embryologist'.
I wonder if there have been other workplace novels about this profession in the past.
(Maybe there have been. But I think there should be many, many more.)
Please, just read the first chapter.
You will immediately understand that this is a very serious workplace novel.
Long before they let out their first cry, there is a life that begins in a warm sea. It is a sea of culture medium inside a transparent dish. Today, Kaine Motai was entrusted with in vitro fertilization for the first time since becoming an embryologist. Peering into the microscope, Kaine gasps at the sheer serenity of the micro-world unfolding before her eyes.
And you will immediately realize that this is a novel that cannot be written without professional knowledge, not just imagination.
Furthermore, it is a story that can only be written by someone who can weave sentences with delicate expression, which is something that professional knowledge alone cannot achieve.
Surrounding the egg, which is about one-eighth of a millimeter in diameter, were jelly-like cumulus cells standing like a thick wall. The egg, protected by the cumulus cells, looked like the sun peeking through the clouds.
(Omitted)
The released sperm danced in the culture medium. In order to reach the single egg, the sperm swarmed the cumulus cells and began to break down the wall as if competing with one another.
The author, Rikka Ki , is someone who (I believe) is actually involved in some kind of research profession.
That is precisely why there are descriptions that only they could write.
That is precisely why they can properly depict the emotions of those who work in a lab.
And we, the readers, along with the protagonist, the embryologist Kaine, find ourselves wanting to root for the sperm and the egg.
'Do your best.'
Kaine whispered in her heart and blinked. She felt as if she could hear the splashing sound of the sperm swimming desperately, shaking their flagella.
＊
According to the Japan Society for Reproductive Medicine, 77,206 children were born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) fertility treatments in 2022. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the total number of births in 2022 was 770,707. This means that roughly one in ten people were born via IVF. (From the Nihon Keizai Shimbun).
Those who are single might not fully grasp this, but that many moms and dads have actually been helped by... no, that's not quite right.
Since there are many couples who have to give up without achieving pregnancy, if we talk about just 'having the experience of being helped'... how many people is that?
(I apologize, I don't know which data to look at. It is said that about one in four couples have experienced fertility treatment, regardless of whether it was IVF. I am included in that number as well.)
Anyway, in this Japan with a declining birthrate, this is a novel that shines a light on the profession of despite the fact that so many moms and dads are helped by them! It is a job that is not very well known, called an 'Embryologist'.
I am so grateful!
After reading this story, I don't know how many times I shouted 'thank you' to the embryologists.
Of course, it's not just a story where you learn about the job duties.
It's also not a story like a 5th-grade science textbook that says, 'The birth of life is wonderful!'
Kanon was born on the day her mother died. In exchange for her mother's life. Kanon does not know her mother's face, her skin, or her voice.
The protagonist, Kanon, has a sad past.
It is precisely because of that past that she chose the profession of an embryologist. The 'mission' she envisions for herself is so heartbreaking, so gentle, and so strong.
...She pours all of that out without reservation in the first episode.
The words are so persuasive that they could have been written for the finale.
Oh my.
This is... an amazing story.
I'm sure you will feel the same way by the time you finish the first episode.
＊
Just because the protagonist has a sad past doesn't mean this is a cheap tear-jerker.
From the second episode onwards, the backgrounds and stories of the people visiting the hospital, the hospital staff, and the protagonist herself are depicted one after another.
As someone who has actually visited fertility clinics and obstetricians many times, I know that this event and that event are not just fiction existing only in a novel, but are real stories.
It's not just pretty words.
Life and death are back-to-back.
Good and evil are side-by-side.
A person's heart can shift from calm to madness so easily.
The place where life is created is not just sacred and beautiful.
There are even scenes that question the morality of a job that could be called 'the realm of God'.
These are all difficult questions with no easy answers, but Rikka Kiuchi depicts them with such care. Honestly.
I think she is a writer who tries to connect life.
＊
We all started from a tiny, tiny cell, no bigger than a needle prick.
Each of us has a different story that has begun, and it is something that can never be turned back.
This work gave me an opportunity to think again not only about the characters in the story, but also about my own 'life' and the lives around me.
Although I couldn't possibly have memories of it,
I feel as if I was able to witness the moment I myself was born.
I, too, want to connect my own form of happiness.
Rikka Kiuchi-san,
Thank you for this wonderful work.
Everyone! You have to read it!!
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