Yrjänä's farm is plagued by infertility and the lady of the house decides to get a child by any means to continue her famous family. She's in conflict with her husband and with the church.

The local doctor Aarno works with his nurse wife Asta. After the death of their child, the spouses have distanced themselves from each other. The man is completely immersed in the work, his invention of medicine, and the treatment of the outbreak of an epidemic for which the wife no longer has interest in. She is jealous of her husband's close work relationship with nurse Taina.