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Exploring how a single technological advancement transforms purpose and possibilities, IF/THEN follows egg freezing pioneer Dr Debra Gook as she approaches retirement and leaves behind a little known, but hugely impactful legacy in reproductive medicine – meanwhile two women using Dr Gook’s technology grapple with expectations of motherhood and womanhood in contemporary society.

Synopsis

Dr Debra Gook made egg freezing possible, changing opportunities and lives of millions worldwide. Unsung and largely unknown, she’s now facing forced retirement, her laboratory dismantled.

In 1990, she demonstrated that oocytes could be frozen and maintain potency when thawed—proving the international scientific community wrong. In 1994, she opened the world’s first egg bank and she has since developed protocols for ovarian tissue grafting, testicular tissue grafting, and artificial ovaries. Her current research works towards eliminating cancer cells from ovarian tissue.

Chloe froze her eggs thinking it would buy her time to get on the family track. Retrieval yielded only six viable eggs and recovery was brutal. The procedure surfaced a paradox: egg freezing felt like control but was really surrender. Now 34 in Los Angeles, facing a recommended second cycle, she is asking different questions: what actually brings her joy?

Tina always wanted to be a mother and having survived cancer, she’s relieved to have her frozen eggs to draw upon, but there are added complexities. As a queer woman, she must actively navigate rainbow family planning with added complexities: whose eggs, which donor, who carries, and whether the state she lives in supports the family she is trying to build through reciprocal IVF.

The film follows Dr Gook’s disappearing legacy alongside the legacy that women using her technology want for themselves: the director’s own journey grappling with expectations, and a cancer survivor in a same-sex relationship trying to build a rainbow family.

Meet the Filmmakers

Chloe Taylor — Director
Chloe Taylor is an Australian creative and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Her short documentary REUNION (2025) explores women’s identity through a failed high school reunion. Feature documentary IF/THEN emerged from Chloe’s own egg freezing experience and was selected for UnionDocs Early Production Lab in 2025. She brings nearly a decade of experience managing commercial creative projects across Australia, UK, and the USA.

Diana Ward — Producer
Diana Ward is a producer from Australia. She produced feature documentary ROLLER DREAMS (2017 LA Film Festival premiere, Sydney Film Festival Audience Award) which was acquired by Hulu, LIBERTY (2019 SXSW Best Narrative Short, Berlinale Jury Prize, Gold Hugo) and New Yorker short doc LOST IN MY MIND (2024). She is a 2018 Film Independent Fellow, Amazon Studios Visionary Filmmaker recipient and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membe

Simon J. Walsh — Cinematographer
Simon J. Walsh is a Cinematographer known for THE PLAINS (2022), which premiered at Rotterdam, streams on Mubi and was named one of BFI’s 50 Best Films of 2022; narrative short DEVELOPMENT (2023, MIFF, SXSW Sydney); and dual channel short MESSAGE THREAD (2025). He is a Kodak Young Cinematographer of the Year Award recipient and his commercial clients include Google and Disney and music videos for artists such as Courtney Barnett. He was most recently awarded an ACS 2025 Gold Award for Victorian Commercial Cinematography

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Contact

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