This is an excellent inspiring documentary that profiles several different LGBTQ families that so neatly dispels so many myths, and clearly shows that the diverse and loving relationships featured are on many levels actually more successful at bonding than many traditional nuclear families.
Award-winning Argentinian filmmakers Rodolfo Moro and Marcos Duszczak turn their cameras on six same-sex relationships who had to go through enormous hoops and lengthly legal hurdles to be able to become parents.
Patrick and Juan Luque Duffy were remarkably gung-ho when they discovered that their surrogate gave birth to triplets to add to the young son they had. They are refreshingly frank about how unprepared they thought they were initially, but both of them have found nurturing skills they never knew they had which is now evident in the scenes of their extraordinarily happy family.
Actor Denis O’Hare and his husband Hugo Redwood had to deal with a great deal of homophobia and stubborn officialdom before they got their son. They had almost given up on the idea when late one night they got a phone call telling them a boy had been found for them. Even so it still took three more years before they felt safe that the legal battles were over, and the son they adored was finally theirs.
The extra commitment that same-sex couples have to make, let alone the additional financial burdens, to become parents definitely seems to make them all want to go that extra mile to ensure that their child/children really have a happy home.
Trans Aspen Hawke and his wife Mandy who both work with LGBT youth, ended up adopting two teenage lesbians who had really been abused by both their biological families and then by the foster program. The two girls are remarkably resilient and extremely happy now with their new parents who can finally give them the love and support denied to them through a traditional family set-up.
Erwynn and Will Umali Behrens were married to women
when they met, and both had fathered two children. Will had been part of a strict Baptist family and when he was finally forced out of the closet, he had to deal with a nasty divorce. Both he and Erwynn discovered that although their ex-wives had great difficulties in accepting the reality of the situation, the children had no qualms at all. They clearly loved their fathers and were happy to be able to be a major part of their lives, and now with new step siblings to boot.
Chris Crespo’s wife Jane Switzer had major health issues and was warned by the doctor that she had better hurry up if she was thinking of having children of her own. Thanks to a sperm donor she gave birth to healthy triplets which actually almost was the death of her. The family lead a very rural life surrounded by animals and the children now very articulate teenagers, have been brought up to ignore gender roles, thus giving them much healthier outlooks on life than most of their peers.
It is impossible not to be deeply moved by the unselfish love and devotion of these couples, all of whom have brought they own distinct approach to parenting. So many LGBT people had trouble for years coming to accept their own sexuality as they were growing up simply for the sheer lack of any role models. Some how this doesn’t seem to be any issue here, and if anything at all these families will prosper as these gay fathers and mothers will become the parents that we all wished we had.
Totally unmissable.
Labels: 2017, documentary, same sex families
