Molatelo's short film tackles infertility
Molatelo Mainetje documented her struggle to conceive, writes Latoya Newman
SOUTH African film-maker Molatelo Mainetje recently returned from Nairobi where she won a Mercke Foundation media recognition award for her short film, Womb-man, which tackles infertility as its subject matter.
This followed the film’s success this year at the African Film Fest in Dallas, Texas, (best documentary film award) as well as its screenings at the Encounters Festival in Cape Town and Joburg, and the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
Mainetje deals with the sensitive matter of infertility by turning the lens on herself. She zooms into her own journey as a modern woman from a traditional background who tries to balance the two worlds of traditional healing and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and attempts to unpack the physical and emotional pain of infertility.
“I wanted to break the silence and stigma on infertility. To share my story and inspire someone to do something about their condition or educate someone about infertility so they don’t make the mistake of indirectly hurting someone who is going through this,” said Mainetje.
Meggan Zunckel, director: strategic relationships and chief executive officer at the Infertility Awareness Association of SA, said one in six couples are diagnosed with infertility.
“Patients diagnosed with infertility have to deal with a society that has very little understanding of the subject. As a result, it has become a topic which is uncomfortable to discuss, and the discussions that do happen are often short-lived due to the superficial and sometimes even well-intended but hurtful words of ‘comfort’ and ‘advice’ offered.”
Zunckel said individuals and couples undergoing fertility treatment often lacked support and understanding on the emotional impact of diagnoses.
Mainetje said: “IVF is the most vicious treatment you can go through just because you want to fall pregnant.”
She went through IVF in 2006 and two 2007 respectively.
“I wrestled with the issue. For me to finally decide to start rolling the camera on me didn’t come easy. But I wanted to document the experience of infertility. It didn’t come cheap; emotionally, financially, physically and health-wise. It was just taxing.”
Mainetje said ignorance and stigma attached to infertility remained a challenge, particularly for women from traditional backgrounds.
“I come from deep rural Limpopo, I am the eldest of five girls and one boy, and I’m the only one who doesn’t have a child in the family. In my community, when you have children they no longer use your name; you become so and so’s mother. So at home in my case, I am called Molatelo because I am not a mother. It’s not intentional that they want to isolate you, but it is how it is.”
She said there are constant reminders of your infertility.
“If you have a successful career, it’s because you don’t have the responsibility of children. If you wrong someone, they remind you that you are childless. So, you can imagine how you are reminded of your condition day in, day out, in everything you do. Some people do it intentionally to hurt you, but others are not even aware that they’re actually discriminating against you.”
In 1999, Mainetje had an ectopic pregnancy where she lost a fallopian tube. She said the implications of losing one of her fallopian tubes weren’t explained.
“I was in my early 20s. Fast forward to 2006 when I felt ready to start a family I went for a check-up at a fertility clinic. I then found out that all along the second tube had been blocked and could not be restored. So I don’t have any fallopian tubes.”
She said her infertility could have been avoided were it not for her own ignorance and a lack of reproductive education.
“Blocked tubes can be treated and unblocked. Because of poor health systems, lack of reproductive education… because we don’t have these conversations with mothers, daughters, friends… I didn’t know better. By telling my story, I’m saying to another 16- or 18-year-old who plans to have kids in future that these things exist.”
She said her film speaks to all women: “I represent a rural girl or woman in Mahlabathini in KZN somewhere. I represent an independent woman who chairs executive meetings in the boardroom somewhere.
“I challenge people to watch my film and see yourself, your sister-in-law, an aunt, that old woman people gave names because she couldn’t have children. You will see someone you know in my story.”