Baby Fever is a Scandinavian dramedy series based on a fertility doctor who artificially inseminates herself with her ex-boyfriend’s sperm. All six episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The show starts off with fertility doctor, Nana L. Jessen, trying to justify artificially impregnating herself with stolen sperm after a wild night full of drinks.
Going back three days, on her way to work, Nana bumps into Soren, the ‘fit physio’ co-worker with whom she recently hooked up. She is quick to evade his invitation to dinner and rush into the clinic where she goes about her usual routine. Simone, the receptionist and a close friend of Nana’s, is always at hand when she needs help, professional or personal.
Nana is highly successful in her work and this triumph is brought on by her use of a technique in which she mirrors her patients’ story, claiming to have faced similar struggles.
While testing out a long-awaited new scanner with Simone’s help, Nana discovers that she only has three follicles present, meaning that she only has around six months left until she can no longer get pregnant easily.
Now with a clock ticking down in the back of her head, Nana discusses her options with Simone and concludes the best choice would be to find someone to build a family with.
The next day, Nana runs into Matthias, her ex-boyfriend who left the country for a job causing them to break up. She finds out that he’s there to donate his sperm. Later, Simone sends Nana Matthias’ details after breaking into the sperm bank’s computer.
He accepts Nana’s invitation to meet and they catch up on missed time. After sharing a moment, they kiss but the romantic air makes way for awkward silence when Nana asks Matthias whether he wants kids, mid-kiss.
She returns to the empty clinic where she gets drunk with Simone in order to drown the night’s embarrassment. A blacked-out Simone asks Nana to turn on the sperm bank’s alarm. Instead, Nana finds Matthias’ sperm and artificially inseminates herself.
The next morning, Nana wakes up in a disordered clinic and slowly puts together the pieces of the events that took place the previous night. To try to cover up her mistake, she takes a morning-after pill. However, after feeling nauseous, she takes a pregnancy test which turns out positive.
Her boss, Helle, shows up with her co-partner to assess the situation, believing it to be a break-in caused by Simone forgetting to set the alarm. Lucky for Nana, Simone doesn’t remember most of the previous night’s events and blames herself for the break-in.
Nana manages to convince everyone to not involve the police as it might draw negative attention from the public. Instead, a sperm bank worker gets tasked with the tedious task of checking the inventory to make sure nothing is missing.
Meanwhile, Nana asks Matthias if they could talk before he leaves for Guatemala. When he refuses, she plots and goes through with her plan to cover up the unnatural circumstances of her pregnancy by having intercourse with Soren.
On her way home, she runs into Matthias and they end up spending a day together, at the end of which she finds out that he is returning to Guatemala in a week.
From a tale about Simone’s grandparents, Nana gets the idea to get together with Matthias within the week before he leaves and claim that the baby was born prematurely. Set on winning Matthia back, she begins avoiding Soren around the clinic.
Nana finds out that Matthias is no ordinary donor. A patient of testicular cancer, he is a ‘depositor’ who has kept his sperm safe in the sperm bank in order to be retrieved as per his needs. She visits him at the hospital where their conversation ends with him admitting he cannot handle a relationship with her while he is dealing with cancer.
Nana finally confides in Simone about her pregnancy but claims Soren to be the father. Deciding to give it one more shot, Nana goes on a date with Soren which goes well but doesn’t satisfy her completely.
In the meantime, a mix-up in a client’s sperms, caused by Nana the night of the unfortunate incident, stirs up a commotion in the clinic. Despite her efforts to keep the matter under wraps, Helle is forced to fire Simone as a scapegoat for the accident when the story makes its way to a journalist.
Matthias visits Nana at the clinic to inform her of the success of his surgery, eliminating all cancer from his body. The two decide to pursue a relationship but are interrupted by a confused Soren, confronting Nana about her pregnancy and her claims of him being the father. Misunderstanding Nana’s pregnancy, Matthias leaves, not wanting to be a part of her complicated mess.
Meanwhile, Simone finds Matthias’ sperm straw that Nana had used and puts two and two together. After confronting Nana, who continues to lie to her, she storms out of the clinic.
Wanting to get rid of the mess she had gotten herself into, Nana books an abortion.
If you still have doubts about the ending, here’s a full breakdown.
Baby Fever ending explained in detail: (Episode 6: Is It Time To Say Congratulations?)
Trouble at the clinic
Nana returns to the clinic the next day to find Emille, a new receptionist sitting at Simone’s chair. Inexperienced and unacquainted with Nana’s preferences, Emille isn’t short of mistakes.
She lets a client walk into Nana’s room without any warning, giving her no time to compose herself. She later mishears a client’s name causing confusion.
Ridden with guilt, a distracted Nana gets caught up in her own lies, losing her client’s trust. Frustrated at herself, she strikes the slow coffee machine in the kitchen, knocking over a glass which shatters upon hitting the floor.
Nana’s pregnancy
Tired of hiding the truth, Nana goes to Helle but her attempt to confess her crime is cut short by Helle’s partner walking in with some much-anticipated good news.
Nana returns to work but feels unwell causing her to leave the room. In immense pain, she rushes to the washroom where she undresses to find a lot of blood discharged. She tries to leave but faints on her way to the door, banging her head against it.
Soon after, her co-worker finds her passed out after losing a lot of blood. He takes her to the hospital where she wakes up scared but finds that her baby is in a healthy condition.
Simone’s forgiveness
Nana finally comes clean to Helle and explains exactly what occurred the night of the break-in. She takes responsibility for everything causing Helle to leave no choice but to fire her, albeit quite reluctantly. At Nana’s request, Simone gets her job back.
She asks to be the one to convey the news to Simone. She makes her way to her friend’s house where she apologizes for keeping it all a secret from Simone and letting her take the blame for it.
The two make up and Simone convinces Nana to tell Matthias the whole truth, reassuring her that even if it ends with him despising her, at least he would know the truth.
The show ends on a cliffhanger with Nana walking up to Matthias’ house, preparing to reveal what she had done.
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