Television The phenomenon is called superfertilization and is rare, with less than 20 cases worldwide. It is portrayed in 17 dramatic episodes.
A Brazilian production.
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Jessica Sousa
A therapist loves children and dreams of being a mother, but her marriage is not going well. The miniseries “Piece of Me”, initially intended to be a soap opera, premieres this Friday, July 5, on Netflix, and portrays a rare phenomenon. Currently, there are only about 19 known cases in the world, according to “El País”.
After two miscarriages, the desire of the character, played by Juliana Paes, becomes a nightmare when she becomes pregnant with twins from different fathers. One will have the genes of her unfaithful husband, Tomás (Vladimir Brichata), and the other is the result of rape, by “someone from her past”.
The plot revolves around this heteroparental superfertilization, which occurs when two eggs are fertilized by different men. It is only possible when a woman has sex with two different men within a short period of time, on average between seven and ten days.
One of the most recent cases happened in Colombia in 2018 and was reported in the scientific journal Biomédica, in June 2020. The group of researchers who analyzed the case states that women can produce two or more eggs per day, in the same fertile period. “There are genetic, biological or treatment factors with some hormones that can make this super ovulation frequent”, they say.
However, this is a rare phenomenon. The production of “A Fábrica” which explores a fictional case has 17 episodes. Vladimir Brichata, also the protagonist, Felip Abib, Palomma Duarte and João Vitti are other names in the cast.
“She (the protagonist) has the strength to endure all the dramas, but, somehow, in that first moment, the desperate desire for motherhood and to form the perfect family ends up having very disastrous consequences”, explains Juliana Paes to the newspaper “Estadão”.
Juliana has already revealed that this was one of the most challenging roles throughout her career. “I have never played a character that has put me in such a state of anguish,” revealed the 45-year-old actress.
The production, created and written by Ângela Chaves, had already been announced last year. Initially conceived as a soap opera, the production ended up taking a new direction and began to be called a “melodrama series”. The change was due to the number of episodes needed to tell the story, which is lower than usual for a soap opera.
“Melodrama revolves a lot around family themes, but it has a curious element: when a soap opera is made, the premise is that the person is ‘watching it from behind’, washing the dishes. When there is something more concise, like a film or a series, it is assumed that the person is sitting down and paying attention”, underlined Vladimir Brichata, who
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