As the head of the fertility and gender department of a Milan’s Niguarda hospital, the charismatic Dr Maurizio Bini oversees the dreams and struggles of aspiring parents undergoing IVF alongside the deeply personal journeys of individuals reconciling their bodies with their gender identities.
This fly-on-the-wall documentary follows him in the run-up to his retirement. In his consultation room he asks probing questions, builds trust, and manages unrealistic expectations, always guided by a deep sense of empathy. “We do what is in the patient’s best interest, not always what the patient asks for,” he explains.
Operating in a politically charged environment, Dr Bini and his staff must also navigate the ethical and social dilemmas posed by a conservative government and the ever-increasing pressures of a commercialized healthcare market eager to commodify the human body. In the context of such challenges, this intimate portrait of a passionate, unconventional medical professional becomes a lens through which viewers are invited to reflect on the purpose of medicine and the role of compassion in public healthcare.
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