Noh Gyeong-mu, director of "How to Get Your Man Pregnant," poses with a trophy after winning the grand prize in the short film category at the Monterrey International Film Festival in Mexico, Oct. 6. Yonhap

In 2030, a treatment that can make men pregnant becomes available in Korea in an effort to increase the fertile population as the country hits a record-low fertility rate of 0.4 in Noh Gyeong-mu's short animation film and webcomic “How to Get Your Man Pregnant.”

In a recent interview with The Korea Times, the filmmaker said the award-winning piece, which won the grand prize at Mexico's Monterrey International Film Festival in the short film category last month, is a “satire criticizing Korea's patriarchy.”

The film, which reverses stereotypical gender roles in a fictional future, revolves around a young, frustrated couple struggling with infertility. Pressured by her in-laws for allegedly “breaking the family line,” the protagonist Kang Yu-jin and her husband learn from breaking news of a new technology enabling men to become pregnant, after another of their in vitro fertilization treatments ends in failure.

“The idea began with what our mothers often told us, ‘Men should imagine the shoe on their foot and get a chance to become pregnant and give birth themselves.' I just wanted to make it come true,” Noh said.

Poster of Noh Gyeong-mu's animated film, "How to Get Your Man Pregnant" / Courtesy of Korean Academy of Film Arts

Kang's husband seeks advice from other male mentors who have experienced male pregnancy before him, which leads him to learn that pregnancies often lead to career disruption and personal frustration.

Although the film presents a fictional scenario by Noh, it is based on a realistic dilemma faced by many Korean women today.

Pregnancy is not a woman's choice over her body but rather a social responsibility and a tool to carry on her husband's bloodline. The plummeting birthrates and physical and economic consequences of giving birth and childrearing are placed upon the female fertile population without any systematic support.

Brought up in a conservative family based in the southeastern Gyeongsang Province region, Noh said she and other women in her generation's upbringing and dilemma on marriage, pregnancy and child rearing provided fertile ground for the idea of male pregnancy in the story.

“I wish the film would lead young couples within the audience to ask among themselves, ‘What would you do if men could also get pregnant? Would you get pregnant for me?'” Noh said.

The director said she has seen mixed reactions from her acquaintances and audiences. “Some men said they would be willing to become pregnant for their partners, while some others didn't bluntly say they would, but shunned the idea,” she said.

Noh believes the film's message will be relevant as long as the country's demographic crisis lingers without any substantial solutions. Korea reached a record-low fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman in her reproductive years — at 0.78 this year, ranking lowest among developed nations.

“I started writing the scenario in the winter of 2020, but there is no prospect of overcoming the plummeting birthrates in sight. So I assume the film could resonate with audiences for a longer time than expected,” Noh said, adding that although patriarchy is not the only factor to blame for the demographic crisis, the social and economic disadvantages women face after pregnancy and childrearing deserve to receive the spotlight.

Noh plans to speak up on discrimination against the socially vulnerable in her future works. Recently, she learned of systematic and social injustices that marriage migrants in Korea from Asian countries face.

“Many things upset me and such anger is a source of inspiration for my work. Discrimination from gender and age are some of what drive me the angriest,” Noh said, explaining that the sorrowful and discriminatory experiences she had as a Korean woman have inspired her creative work.

The film was screened at several domestic and international film festivals, including the 24th Jeonju International Film Festival, the 19th Incheon Women's Film Festival and the 16th edition of Poland's international animated film festival “Animator.”

“How to Get Your Man Pregnant” will be published as a graphic novel in Korean in December, with an English translation to follow after, in order to reach a wider, more global audience, Noh said.