Ms. Conceptions
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
What makes a vibrant, college educated, and single thirty-something woman decide to pack in the search for Mr. Right and pick up a $250 vial of sperm instead? Over the past decade, the birth-rate among this group of women has nearly tripled. They may have given up on relationships but are unwilling to sacrifice Motherhood. In their models of family, men are superfluous.
Lea is 32 and has chosen artificial insemination, even though it makes her feel 'dirty' and leaves her wondering 'who will really be the father of this child.' Rebecca, 38, is tired of her 'party girl' life, and scours personal ads for a suitable 'live donor.' And Anne, 39, who was 'accidentally' impregnated by her ex-boyfriend, must cope with a wanted - but solitary - pregnancy.
The film also looks at the burgeoning sperm industry; from artificial insemination trade shows, to custom ordered sperm ('the specimen is available in standard or pre-washed'), to the suppliers of raw materials - the anonymous donors who are helping to produce children they will never know.
As it examines both sides of the 'Single Mother by Choice' controversy, MS. CONCEPTIONS charms as it lends invaluable insight into the 'family values' debate raging in the political arena, the media, and in the hearts of three women who decide to go it alone.
'Most provocative... Smartly packaged and slightly wry, [MS. CONCEPTIONS] is quick, smart and entertaining.'-Globe and Mail (Toronto)
'A profound, delightful and compassionate encapsulation of a many-sided issue that has long-term ramifications for all of us.'-Network Magazine
'A riveting, often unsettling documentary.'-Toronto Star
'Excellent... Brings a light touch to a heavy topic, with the happy result that MS. CONCEPTIONS entertains as it informs.'-Montreal Gazette
'Manages to portray [the women] with sensitivity, while maintaining the light touch of ROGER and ME. It's 'eggcellent!''-Eye Magazine
Citation
Main credits
Bienstock, Ric Esther (film director)
Bienstock, Ric Esther (film producer)
Frum, Linda (film producer)
Other credits
Director of photography, Joan Hutton; editor, Steve Weslak; music, John Welsman.
Distributor subjects
Family Relations; Health Issues; Life Sciences; Maternity; Sociology; Women's Health; Women's StudiesKeywords
WEBVTT
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[music]
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Why don\'t you tell me
what you\'re looking for.
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I want somebody who\'s ah, dorsey(ph)
and who\'s into exercise and
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that sort of thing. You\'re able
to make a selection by race,
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hair color, hair texture, eye color,
complexion, his height, his weight and
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his personality traits so why don\'t
we start? Uhm, probably blonde hair.
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Blonde, all right. Wavy. Wavy.
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Uhm, eye color, I think I like blue.
Blue eyes.
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At the bottom it\'s gonna tell us
how many ah, meet the criteria
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that you\'re looking for. Okay?
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Ah, as you can see here, he is a graduate
student and studying philosophy.
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His future goal opportunities are to
pursue his PhD and then eventually
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become a professor. He has dimples,
ah, he doesn\'t have a cleft chin.
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He\'s right-handed. He exercises regularly - That\'s
good. - has good teeth and he does not wear glasses,
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he\'s got normal hearing. So far what\'s your
(crosstalk) No but... no I\'m very pleased.
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No I... He\'s health is very nice. I just want to
bring to your attention that ah, the specimens
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ah, of this donor are available
in standard and pre-washed.
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[music]
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What you\'re about to
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see, ah, here you can have it, is the
shape of his face. Uh-huh. The eye set
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and he\'s got full lips. His
ears don\'t stick out too much
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and this allows you to ah, make I think
a really informed choice so that you
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really know what risk(ph) - Yeah. That I\'m getting
into. - that you\'re getting into. Yeah. Exactly.
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I\'m not kidding you.
More and more women are
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having babies and they\'re not married and they
don\'t wanna be and the men are not in their
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lives. They just have the kid because
they wanna have kids. It\'s a wonderful
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thing to have a child and
sometimes men can be (inaudible)
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so have the baby
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without the father. You\'re independent, strong
and self-confident, but your biological clock is
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ticking away and you have an overwhelming desire to have a
baby. It started(ph) off(ph) quite a debate on talk shows and
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offices and at the White House. The topic
was Dan Quayle\'s decision to condemn
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the morals of the television character,
Murphy Brown. A character who supposedly
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epitomizes today\'s intelligent, highly-paid
professional woman, mocking the
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importance of fathers by bearing a child
alone and calling it just another
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lifestyle choice. In Britain,
the aristocracy have always
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led wild lives, and had children all over the place
and done all sorts of extraordinary things. But
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that was just all right. But now that middle class
women like myself, you know, a professional,
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not earning mega bucks, but earning enough,
once we start doing it then it\'s like \"Oh
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my God\" you know, they... it\'s all getting
out of control, where will it end,
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what will happen, who will marry all these men
that aren\'t terribly attractive and aren\'t
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terribly bright and aren\'t terribly wonderful,
who will marry them? Because why would you?
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Why would you marry one of them if you didn\'t have to. I mean, why
would you if you could have your children and have a life. Having a
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child on your own is an implicit statement
that men are superfluous or unnecessary
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ah, as active fathers. We want
companions, we want soul mates,
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we want confidants, we want buddies,
we want lovers, we want ah,
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people to hang out with, to play with, go shopping
with, play dress-up with. Men weren\'t raised
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for that, not at all. We\'re looking for basically
girlfriends with penises. I like men. I
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think they\'re great. I\'d like to have a
special man in my life. But this is something
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that we can do that men cannot do. Yes,
we need to have sperm in order to have a
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baby. That\'s true, and male has to
supply the sperm, but other than
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that, we can do it all. There\'s
something frightening really and
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sad about watching parents,
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mothers place what is good for me ahead
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of what is good for a child.
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I think I first started thinking about having
a child probably about two years ago. I was
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uhm, 30 at the time and ah, I don\'t think age
at the time was a concern to me. I think
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it was secondary. I think I initially
was just wanting to have a child.
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I used to think maybe marriage was, was
what I wanted. That was my initial
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goal. But now that I\'m 32,
and I\'m not married, I,
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I reorganized my priorities. I don\'t
necessarily think that it should be chil...
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Always children first, marriage second. But in
my situation, that\'s where I\'m at and that\'s
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the choice. I believe that I, I would be a
good mother as a single parent whether I...
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Whether there was a man at my side or not. Also
there are just some women that I think ah, choose
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that ah, they don\'t wanna have a man around, you
know, they wanna be an old maid or whatever. But ah,
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that\'s their business of course.
It isn\'t everybody I guess is ah,
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suitable for marriage. I think women
today are very independent, too.
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And a lot of them have good jobs. They don\'t
need a husband to tell them what to do. They can
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come and go as they like and still have a
child. And I think that\'s the way that they
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are today more so than in my day.
I mean, it was unheard of, eh.
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I, ah, I wasn\'t anxious to get married. I think
we got married last(ph) right? Don\'t say
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that like as if I proposed to you. No. No, no, I mean
that ah... That was terrible. No. I mean, I wasn\'t ah,
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in any rush to get married. But that way, that I just
had a good time. I think there\'s a lot more factors
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today than there was years ago. A lot more.
You think so? Indeed I do.
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But Lea has never had too much luck don\'t(ph) she?
Yeah. She said men that she\'s gone out with, you know,
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they don\'t ah, seem to appeal for marrying.
She said all men wants just one
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thing, you know. I said, what\'s wrong with that, you
know. If I was married and I wasn\'t in a good marriage
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and I had a child, that child would
be affected by that marriage.
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And, and I, I don\'t see the difference in me
trying to raise a child on my own. I don\'t see the
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negative effects of me raising a child
on my own. To Sarah and Joey(ph). Sarah,
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S-A-A... S-A-R-A-H and Joey(ph) (inaudible)
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Single Mothers
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
by Choice became officially ah, incorporated
as a non-profit organization in
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1981. Since \'81 we\'ve grown
to have over 20 chapters
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in the U.S. and three in Canada as well.
What I\'ve learned in
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doing the research for the book is that
between 1980 and 1990, the birth rate
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for women in their 30s who are single
and who hold managerial or professional
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type jobs has nearly tripled. So it is a
staggering increase. I had done personally,
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I had, you know, done blind dates with people,
you know, friends, family setting me up and
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I just said if at 38 I hadn\'t met somebody
who I wanna be with then I\'m starting the
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procedure of donor insemination and
I\'m packing in dating for a while.
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Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday
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to you. Happy birthday to Rebecca. Happy birthday to you.
It just seem that one minute I was about 28 and still
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happy being single and then the next minute I woke up and
I was gonna be 38 and then I didn\'t know where the time
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went. Make a wish. I\'m not gonna tell you
what it is. Then don\'t tell them (inaudible)
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Yey! Good luck.
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I\'ve always want to have children and I
came from a huge family so I used to
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uhm, organize the other kids in my family
and put on plays and, and I always
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wanted to be a teacher and always want
to have children. I\'ve always love kids.
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And so now all of a sudden I
find myself in my late 30s
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and not married and I haven\'t got any
children and I... definitely that\'s a
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part of life I don\'t wanna miss out on. I think
what happened to women is, is that, that
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they\'ve changed their role faster than men
have. This has been my, my stance(ph) on
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feminism from the word girl.
That women cnanot have freedom
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or emancipation unless they bring
the men with them. So (inaudible)
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want to change the
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female culture which is what feminism has been very busily
doing. But if you went in all the blocks, all they\'re
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going to do is sitting on the sidelines and be a, a
dead weight round your ankles to pull you back or hard
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works that you\'re pulling with you. There\'s
always the tendency to blame women for whatever
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the problem is. So one theory would
have to be that... or the reason so many
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women don\'t find the \"right man\" is because we
expect too much. If we would only lower our
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expectations. The fact is that women
expect equality today and when they don\'t
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find it then they\'d prefer not to dance.
Well, done with
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the bachelorette(ph)
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[music]
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Well, I don\'t find anyone that exciting that I meet. I
just don\'t seem to meet anyone I... that makes my heart
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jump over. (inaudible)
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together? I know your brother. No.
Boris(ph). Boris(ph), I used to know him.
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No... what is your name? Rebecca. Rebecca? Yeah. I
used to go out with(ph) him(ph). I should have been
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thinking when I was in my mid-20s because I think that\'s when a lot of the good guys got snuck
up. Rob, I know your cousin Rob. And you look bold(ph), I\'m sure they went out with you.
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
I had a horrible date a while ago. We went
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
to a hockey game and after the hockey game we went
out for a cup of tea. And while I was sitting there
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he said that if he wants to get laid,
that\'s he\'s exact words, he phones a hooker
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because it only costs $150 and he
if take a girl for dinner it\'s $100
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then if he go for drinks and
dancing, it\'s another $50 and ah,
00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
then you have to call him on Christmas and
say Merry Christmas. So this is our date
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so then I asked him to take me home which he did.
At which time he told me about this orgy that
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he was planning and I was so disgusted by the time I
got home. That was the night that I said to myself
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if I ever have a screaming baby that\'s
driving me crazy, just remember being out
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there dating and what a bunch of sort of shallow
people there are out there. And that\'s why I\'m very
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happy with my decision to go ahead with this baby...
absolutely for nothing. 1500, would I get 2,000?
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I got 1,500, would I get 2,000-dollar bid?
1,500 (inaudible)
00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.000
$2,000 once. 2000 (inaudible)
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
2,000, 2,500 in the back... I don\'t think
it\'s gonna be easy to find a father for
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
this baby. I don\'t think
it\'s gonna be easy at all.
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[music]
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
Initially when I thought about wanting to
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
have a child, I thought about what
route I would take. I had a couple of
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
serious possibilities for
donors and ah, once I had
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
spoken with doctors about that, that didn\'t seem to be the
route to go. So I tried to find as much information I had
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
about artificial insemination. For example
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
each and every semen specimen
undergoes a minimum of
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
180 days of quarantine. That\'s the minimum.
The test for the quarantine...
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
When you\'re actually, you\'re in the doctor\'s office and you\'re discussing
it, there\'s kind of an excitement, you have a million questions. Then you
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
get home and it really sort of settles in you\'d think
What am I doing? What made you decide to go to the donor
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
insemination route? My big concern as I said was the
AIDS and so forth but I also like the idea that the
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
donor doesn\'t know who I am and there\'s no way that
they could come back for custody or anything like
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
that. That\'s also a concern to me. Yeah. Absolutely.
When the donors enter into the program they sign a
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
contract stating that they will not try to
seek the identity of the recipient - Uh-hmm.
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
- or the offspring. You have to really trust that the
information that the bank is giving you is valid, that
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
the donor\'s medical history is what he
says it is. I mean, you have to go in
00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
with an implicit faith and trust in that.
Otherwise, you know, you can\'t do it.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
I know a lot of women who were like, \"Well, how do you know they\'re
telling the truth or how do you know you really have the donor
00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.999
you know, sperm that you asked for?\" You
have to have a certain amount of trust then
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
just go with it. However, you fully understand
that neither the donor nor Dr. del Valle
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
or his designate can be held responsible
for the physical or mental characteristics
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
of any child or children so produced.
And this is not applicable
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
since you\'re... you are single - Uh-hmm.
- and there\'s not a spouse.
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
And I\'ll have you sign here - Okay. - on the top
line. Well, the nurse behind the counter said,
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
\"How would you like to pay for this?\" And I said, \"Oh, well, do you take
credit cards?\" \"Yes, we do.\" \"Well, I\'ll pay with the VISA.\" And I\'m
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
fin... I\'m putting the VISA thinking I\'m buying
my child. This is like something out of the Bible
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
only with plastic. Okay. Okay.
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
I\'ll just ah, sign... Now,
so I can give you a call?
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
What, what\'s my next move then? Do I
just call you... So I came home and I
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
was afraid even after I\'d set the appointment.
I was excited but I was nervous. You\'ll
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
call me - Uh-hmm. - when you start your period. Okay.
I will be able to proceed in your next cycle. Great.
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:08.000
[music]
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
People have asked me, \"Did you
get pregnant on purpose?\"
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
And I\'ve said, \"Consciously, no.
Unconsciously,
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
I would say yes.\" I was taking risk that
I\'ve never took in my life with making
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
love. In the last few relationships
I had mentioned to the person I was
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
involved with, right at the very beginning, I
want you to know that if I do become pregnant
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
that I will not be having an abortion, you
know, that I will be keeping the baby and
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
doing this. And that that for me was really clear
regardless of what happened in the relationship.
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
I remember when I found out I was pregnant
that from the first second that I
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
knew that I was pregnant, when I did the
test, that it was right. Yes, I\'m pregnant
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
and no I\'m having a baby. That was the
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
difference. That was the difference. And I said well,
okay now I need to tell mom. And I thought she\'d be
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
okay with it. I thought she\'s been through
a lot. She has six children and I
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
phoned my mother up. It was a dinner party and
uhm, I, I was sort of not hearing her very
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
well. And I said uhm, \"I\'ve got some news. Are you sitting down?\"
And she sort of said, \"No, I don\'t need to sit down. Well,
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
you know what? What?\" And I said, \"I\'m having a
baby.\" And I said, \"You\'re pregnant?\" And she
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
said, \"Yes.\" And she sort of there was a silence.
Now this is most unusual for Anne because Anne
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
talks. And then she said, Mom what,
what... \"Mom what do you feel?\" And
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.000
the first words out of
her mouth, (inaudible)
00:15:51.001 --> 00:15:54.999
thinking about this was,
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
\"Wonderful, I am so glad that you were
doing this.\" And I just sort of went,
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
\"Oh, I wasn\'t expecting that.\"
Anne is a wonderful person,
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
giving, caring, ah, strong woman,
and she will do a wonderful
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
job. I know, I know she will. My
brother-in-law was the only one who
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
made a comment when I told my sister. I phoned
long distance in England and she was going
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
\"wonderful, wonderful\" and he didn\'t know what she was saying
wonderful about and she said \"What?\" And she\'s... and Liz(ph)
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
said, \"Anne\'s having a baby.\" And like he\'s
Hungarian and in the background(ph), \"Vat about the
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
vaddy?\"
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:43.000
[music]
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
Christopher(ph)... Hi there. How was your
weekend? It\'s good. At the beach. Yeah?
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:56.999
I can see man, you\'re glowing.
Yeah (inaudible)
00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:59.999
It worked? In some ways. (inaudible)
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
My turn next week.
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
Okay. Thanks a lot. No problem. It\'s
something with a plot(ph). Thanks man(ph).
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:18.000
[music]
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
Every Saturday morning I
wake up, and the first
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
thing I do when I wake up is I read the GoldMail and
in the GoldMail every Saturday I always have these
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
very interesting ads. And I always read the Personal
Companions because I\'m looking for a personal
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
companion and then I got the idea
well, maybe I could put an ad in.
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
But I didn\'t wanna put it on the companions
because to me the main the thing is having
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
a baby right now. I\'ve you know, wanted a companion
for a long time and haven\'t found one so
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
I thought okay, now it\'s the baby thing
so I put it under miscellaneous. So uhm,
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
anyway, it goes all over Canada and maybe
somewhere there\'s somebody like me
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
that\'s going to read it and think, hey, this
is what I want too and maybe we can help
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
each other out.
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
[sil.] The very first time
I had the insemination,
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
I felt sort of dirty almost. I
wondered what was I doing. I
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
really questioned it because I was afraid.
Ah, I still had that fear of uhm,
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
you know, did they do everything right.
What, what did they actually inject in me?
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
This is great to have thought about it, and this is great to be
so strong and so sure of what you wanna do. But when you actually
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
get in there and you do it then I really started
to think, you know, am I willing to go through
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
this again and again. So what day of the
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
cycle is today? Ah, fifteenth.
Fifteenth? Yeah.
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
Okay. If you\'re so kind to bring your
legs out a little bit. Just spread them
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
apart and I\'m just going to (inaudible)
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
here.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
Okay. We\'re looking at the
lining of the uterus now
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
to measure the thickness of the, of the
lining. And I mean, with this size of the
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
follicle, I think that we\'re fully going
to proceed to insemination. Okay. Okay?
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:33.000
[music]
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
When I first started
coming ah, I was obviously
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
curious as to what the payment scale was. And
I was actually surprised to see how much ah,
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
I mean sort of ransom. But
ah, it\'s $50 a donation.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
And they allow you to come
in ah, maximum twice a week.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
But you\'re talking at the
end of the month, ah, $400
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
which, you know, for doing something that
did... as an adolescent would come very
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
naturally and you wouldn\'t
get paid a dime for.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
[sil.] Okay(ph).
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
Sorry. Okay. You want to spread
a little bit more? Okay.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
The cost for an insemination is $500
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
ah, for two inseminations in a cycle. So
you would get ah, two inseminations, ah,
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
over a two-day period. One a day. To
my own budget, it\'s, it\'s been tight.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Now, we\'re just going to, going to put
the speculum now. The humiliating part
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
about the whole insemination is your, your legs
are in the stirrups and the doctor is sitting
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
right there. His face is three inches
away from your private part. Okay? Yup.
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
All right. And part of me
wonders too what did they
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
think? They don\'t appear to be judging you and
maybe they\'re not. But I mean, even I judge
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
myself while I\'m doing it so how can he not wonder
why I\'m going through with this. How are you feeling
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
about the ah, the insemination?
Positive? Positive. Good.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.000
[sil.] Okay. (inaudible)
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
Okay. We\'re all set in(ph).
So just like we normally do,
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
take some nice deep breath... I
think that Lea has chosen the
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
way of doing it is, is a safe way. Ah,
let\'s face it, it\'s pretty dangerous
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
going out running around with every Tom,
Dick and Harry. And ah, with the, the
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
AIDS and all that, and ah, you know, this
is well-tested, background of her fam...
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
Of a family, the husband, I think right
back to the grandparents, it\'s ah,
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
it\'s tested for what they\'ve...
Sickness they\'ve had, diseases,
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
etcetera. Uhm, she\'s been kidded
a few times. I\'m sure you,
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.000
had realize (inaudible)
00:22:21.001 --> 00:22:24.999
these guys would do it for free, you know,
you wouldn\'t have to pay this big fee,
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
you know. Ah, ah, I don\'t know(ph).
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
We\'re just almost finishing. Okay. Okay. Are
you feeling all right? I was concerned of both
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
who the donor was, that sort of
subtle little fear in me as well.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
Who\'s really going to be
the father of this child.
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:53.000
[music]
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
I described myself on the donor info sheet.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
I think it\'s somebody who
is ah, caring, patient, ah,
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
I like sunsets, I like picnicking
and hopefully someday I will
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
write plays and, and novels.
Uhm, it would be a real
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
kick to have a child show up who
says, hey, you know, I didn\'t
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
know who you were when I
read your book. Having
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
strange kids out there
that you will never know
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
is, is an odd thing. In a way it\'s
almost an ego gratification or
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
saying there are little me\'s you know, I\'ve fathered a
little empire perhaps out there. There is all these little
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
carbon copies or at least there\'s all
these little genetic carry-overs of
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
my family out there. I used to
wonder when their birthdays were and
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
wanted to put them on the calendar so at least I
could toast it, you know, Baby X, happy birthday.
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
My wife was ah, in on the whole thing with me as well
from the beginning. She thought it was kind of a
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
funny way to make extra cash. But
she was into it. She thought, ah,
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
you know, why not. And we\'re having a child of our own but there
will be other people out there that have my children and she
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
actually thought it was kind
of an interesting concept.
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:23.000
[music] It\'s a very competitive
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
business if you, if your livelihood depends on it.
Our prices are reasonable and we are able to ship
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
anywhere in the country. Most of the physicians
that use us use us because of our quality semen. We
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
guarantee the minimum of 25
million total model cells.
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
We like the CryoValve(ph) we feel that they\'re better.
To me a straw is better than a valve because it\'s ready
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
to use. The color that you see
here represents ah, a color
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
coding we use for major racial or
ethnic ah, groupings. We have a
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
ah, 86% pregnancy rate with our donor\'s semen
specimen in six cycles of insemination.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
We use white for Caucasian donors.
Pregnancy occurs by
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
83% within the first three cycles. Black
for African or Afro-American donors.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
We will accept any type of credit card,
VISA or Master Charge. Yellow for
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
ah, Asian or Indo(ph) donors. Money
order or just COD. And we use the red
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
for ah, ethnic minorities
and miscellaneous groups.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
Rub it between your hands, in two or three minutes it\'s
completely thawed(ph) cut the tip off, she\'s ready to
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
be inseminated. Our donors, unlike maybe out
of the sperm bank, are compensated by ah,
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
their productivity level. If he gives us ah,
Cytex(ph) 30 which guarantees 30 million
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
model sperm we\'ll pay him $30. $20
being the minimum. If he is a blue
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
line which guarantees 50 million
model sperm, we\'ll pay him $50. $110
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
per ejaculate being the maximum. That\'s when
we get about ten vials per ejaculate. But
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
they\'re rare. We have really not approached
it from a commercialization standpoint.
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
I mean, I think the people that operate the sperm bank
should be like the guys who operate peepshows and
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
kinda red light district businesses,
you know. I don\'t think
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
they should be like, you know, happy,
pink-faced guys in suits, you know, who\'s
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
proud of their product. I don\'t... I think they ought
to be kinda skulk around and be ashamed about the whole
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
thing but they\'re not. We\'re the only
sperm bank that knows the IQ of the
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
donors. And I might add that almost
all of our donors have IQs in excess
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
of 130. That\'s very a
respectable intelligence rate.
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
Among our methods of
recruiting germinal donors
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
is to go through the publications and
at least the various professions
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
and such things as Who\'s Who and so forth.
Here\'s a good
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
example. We\'ve gone through several
pages and not found anybody that
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
qualified. But here we found one.
And this is... and the reason
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
we singled him out is because
he has all the other requisites
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
and he also has an AB cum
laude, Harvard University.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
And this is important to us because
IQ like good health is highly
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
inheritable.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
We send them a form letter and a
few of them responds favorably.
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
No one donor stands out in my mind who
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
render(ph) a consolation(ph)
of superb men. I have
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
a group of men who are very young,
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
very tall, magnificently built,
they\'re over 200-pounders,
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
very extremely accomplished,
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
they\'re very handsome. These are supermen.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
Our problem is to find enough
outstanding donor. And that\'s
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
not easy. It\'s a rigorous hunting
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
problem. There\'s a social phenomenon.
I find this whole issue
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
of uhm, sperm banks just to be uhm,
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
both frightening and
honestly just repulsive.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
It\'s repulsive ah, trafficking in this
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
product of radically fatherless children.
You wish you had a daddy, sweetheart?
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
I want my bogicoligal... I
want my biological daddy.
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
You want your biological daddy? I
want my biological... what\'s his na...
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
What\'s his, what\'s his... what do you call
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
him again? You call him your biological
daddy. My bigicolo... logical
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
daddy? Uh-hmm. Biological
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
daddy? Yes, that\'s what he is because
he gave his seed for me to have
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
you and a doctor put it inside my womb and
then you came. But we don\'t know who he
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
is. That was part of my deal with the
doctor. You know, the queen bee flies up
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
into the heavens and all the
little drones fly after her, the
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
males whose only job is to mate with her.
The one male who reaches her implants his
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
genitals in her ah, and then falls
to earth. But she has them and
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
possesses them and then can ah,
produce little baby bees throughout
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
the whole hive. So there may be something
of a queen bee fantasy involved in thinking
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
that all right, you have the technology now
to produce a child of your own, but do
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
you have the emotional and spiritual
qualities completely in and of yourself
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
to ah, rear that child.
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
[sil.] I would never go for anonymous
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
insemination and like just go to a sperm bank.
I, I just don\'t think that\'s fair to the
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
child at all. I wouldn\'t... I would rather not
ever have a baby than do that. I just really
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
am against that. I\'d like my child
to know who the father was.
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
[sil.]
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
Twenty-four letters I received
and I wasn\'t even expecting
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
any at all. This is unreal. There\'s this one
guy, he\'s a doctor and he even sends me a chart
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
of his chromosomes for heaven\'s sake.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
Oh God. Anyway, \"I wish you all the best
in your endeavors to get the best genetic
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
set up for your future
child.\" I think I know him.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
Oh they\'re funny. Very, very.
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
[sil.]
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
I do recognize him. Oh that stuff.
I just spoke to him like
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
last week. Isn\'t that the
funniest, funniest, funniest,
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.000
funniest thing that you\'ve ever heard.
(inaudible)
00:31:11.001 --> 00:31:14.999
would send pictures. Well, here,
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
maybe there is one. And you
can\'t see this, it\'s for me.
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
I don\'t think so. Write me as your
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
penpal and I will phone you from a payphone.
Okay. married. All right. \"It would be cheaper
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
if you could have two more of your lady friends
come up to Thunder Bay.\" I don\'t think so.
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
\"All having the same donater(ph) would
be very interesting.\" Unbelievable.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
Get rid of that baby. Oh, unreal.
I mean, this is brrmm.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
And then I got one from a guy who obviously
wants to have a lot of sex and I\'ve
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
figured out that he\'s only hunting(ph) for sexmate.
An Italian, hmm, I love Italian. And he\'s tried
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
the traditional route, it didn\'t work out. He\'s
tired of waiting for the right woman. Hey,
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
he\'s gonna take a non-traditional approach.
This is incredible. He
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
sounds just like my kind of guy. Good grammar,
you gotta have good grammar. Fantastic.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
Well, where is the picture? For
goodness\' sakes there\'s no picture.
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
He says, \"Obviously you have a strong desire to become
a mother as much as I have to become a father, but by
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
being parents, the best interest of the child should be
our top priority. After all, we aren\'t talking about
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
buying a consumer good but rather we want to bring a
human being into the world. What I\'m trying to say is
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
that visitation rights for me are a must. We are not looking
for a relationship but to raise an emotionally healthy child,
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
we should become good friends.\" I
think he\'s very interesting that men
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
feel the same way that I do that they want to
have babies. I, I thought that it was more like a
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
female urge, a very natural
biological urge to reproduce.
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
I thought men just wanted to have sex.
But it turns out that they like being
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
fathers. Wow(ph). Like can you feel where he\'s hand(ph) is
lying? Probably not at this month(ph) yet. He\'s too little?
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
He\'s still too little. Although that right
there I just felt something that felt like a
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
limb. Uhm, I don\'t know if you can feel right
there. Yes. Yeah. Can you feel that? Here.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Oh, hello sweetie. Here. Oh, oh yeah.
I lost contact
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
with my father for a number of reasons
when I was a little girl and I did see him
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
again but not for quite a few years
and that was very hard for me
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
not having that. I had a stepfather
who was wonderful but I would
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
never ever say to my son, I\'m having a boy,
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
you cannot see your father or I would
never say to the father you may not
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
see your son. I just wouldn\'t do that. We
have here both your heartbeat and the baby\'s.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:48.999
That\'s yours, the slow one. (inaudible)
00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:50.000
Wow.
00:33:50.001 --> 00:33:54.999
And I\'m totally open to
him having his access
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
or having health knowledge or anything of
importance. But this child went to one parent,
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
I mean, at the moment he does and I want legal
custody. I don\'t want there\'ll be any discussion
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
around that. I don\'t think I was robbing
him of the potential to be a father.
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
I think if a man doesn\'t wear a
condom sperm is fair game. For me
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
it was a very quick in and out.
I got what I wanted and
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
that was that. I do have to admit I\'m
constantly concerned that the man whose sperm I
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
used will appear someday and
demand total access to my daughter
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
and I realize that\'s very selfish on my part
but if and when that happens, I\'ll have to
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
deal with it. The father has every right
whether he\'s married to you or not
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
if he is identifiable as the
father of the child. So you
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
can be asked to share custody.
You\'re potentially
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
open to a custody suit or battle.
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
I had felt that ah, at least being a single
mother by choice, Arianna would never
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
have to suffer through some kind of a horrible custody
battle. I felt that at least I could provide her
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
with that kind of security and I just never thought
that ah, she and I were going to be thrown to such
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
horrible havoc. I was in a
long-term relationship ah,
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
with ah, a man who, ah,
was somebody who really
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
was not at all interested in any kind of commitment,
marriage, having children. It was pretty
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
obvious to both of us that our relationship
was ending probably because of this issue,
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
because he simply wanted to be totally
free and uncommitted and I really
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
wanted to have a child and
ah, we began discussing his
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
helping me basically impregnating
me, and he finally decided that
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
it was okay to try to father a child but he
want to protect himself and be absolutely
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
sure that he wasn\'t going to be called
upon to have any kind of commitment or
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
financial ah, relationship. But
there was always a feeling
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
ah, kind of an ominous feeling
that ah, at some point
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
he would try to obtain more visitation
than we had originally agreed upon.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
And ah, true enough that\'s what happened.
I think he began to look at
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
his beautiful young daughter as someone
who he wanted much more time with. It was
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
really scary because one day I was okay and
then he started bringing up stuff about
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
taking me for longer and how some
very big people were gonna talk to
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
my mom and make her give
me to him, I think at
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
Christmas, on my birthdays, on...
And for me to stay for weekends.
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
So then I came home and I told mommy so I felt
really strange because one day everything
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
was okay and then the next
day court papers arrived and
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
just lawyers, mommy had to
hire a lawyer and there was a
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
custody battle just like overnight.
Yeah. And ah, when I\'m court it
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
was absolutely ah, you know, character assassination
was brought up in the court is that ah,
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
I\'m an unfit mother, uhm, I hate men, I\'ve
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
even gone to the length of having
another child by artificial
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
insemination. I was depicted
as a loon(ph), as a weirdo ah,
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
as lawyers tend to, to depict these
kinds of things. I was feeling
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
really upset and really mad at him. I mean, I
don\'t think I even felt any bit of love for him
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
during that period. And it\'s only been
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
maybe six months now since everything
has been comfortable and back
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
to normal. The agreement was made
by her father and I outside of
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
court ah, basically restoring
the previous situation.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
Considering all the options, I decided
through donor insemination coz it felt
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
more free, foolproof, there
would be no legal problems
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
with it. Uhm, although since I\'ve
done it, sometimes, sometimes
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
I... you know, I feel a little bit bad that he\'ll
never know who his father will be but le...
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
For legal reasons I think
it was the best decision.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
I was so traumatized by the custody
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
suit. I just didn\'t wanna go through
that again and I just really felt that
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
having a second baby by ah, donor
insemination was a ah, cleaner,
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
more predictable way of doing it. Jason
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
knows that he doesn\'t have a father and ah,
yes, of course it will have an impact.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
He invented this extraordinarily
dramatic fantasy
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
about his father being a
cowboy out in the old west and
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
uhm, he was somehow ah,
caught in a landslide
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
and ah, a hurricane and
ah, struck by lightning
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
and ah, was somehow ran
over by this locomotive
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
and ah, he died in a
horribly gruesome dramatic
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
ah, kind of ah, situation. And all
the children, I was told by the
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
teacher, was just sad in awe with their mouths
open, a couple of little girls started crying and
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
they put their arms around Jason and said, \"Oh, you
poor, poor boy.\" And they never asked him about his
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
father again. So he ah, just
instinctively knew how to
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
silence questions and protect himself from
feeling self-conscious and upset about things.
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
I always reinforce his
feelings if he\'s upset.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
I want my biological daddy. I always say, I know you
do and it\'s hard, it\'s hard not to have a daddy.
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
But this is what our family is and over
time he\'ll learn to live with it. Do
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
not try to pretty it up. I think without
question the biggest concern for most single
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
mother\'s by choice is how they\'re gonna handle
the daddy questions. And I do workshops,
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
I go all over the country helping the women to
come to terms with their own feelings about the
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
situation... try to get comfortable with it. A lot
of people say, the first time their child ask they
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
feel a stab in their heart. Like, oh
my goodness this child really wants to
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
know and really doesn\'t have a father. And
here\'s the reality of the child asking
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
when the child may just be asking like do we
have a dishwasher or do we have ah, you know,
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
ah, a horse or pony and the, the question
is just as a matter of fact is that.
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
In the case of donor insemination which is how I had my
daughter, I haven\'t been thinking through how to portray
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
that. Did you have a profile? Yeah, a little
bit. Yeah? Yeah. Coz the children... some
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
children may not care, but some children may
be interested to know whatever you do know.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
I know one woman who has everything including
the parking stub from the parking lot
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
of the sperm bank that she went to. And the
doctor\'s pictures and the form, copies of
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
the forms and uhm, you know, she has
a scrapbook that her child goes
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
through periodically. And it means
a lot to the child, you know.
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:10.000
[music]
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
As a therapist, I can tell you that
having a good foundation means
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
having a parent who really loves you,
really gives you a sense of being wanted
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
and valuable and who respects
you as a human being.
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
There\'s nowhere in that equation
that there have to be two
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
physical bodies one male and one female
to make those particular characteristics
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
happen.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
[sil.]
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
You know people ask me do I have a good
support group and immediately I think of
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
my family. I think oh, God, you know, yes.
Instant dinner.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
Yeah. Where\'s Devon(ph). Where\'s Devon(ph)
mommy? Where... where\'s Devon(ph)
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
Lily? You know where he is. Where is he?
He\'s in here. What does Lily do when
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
she comes to visit? You know what she does? She comes in
and she says... she... first of all, she wants my clothes
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:16.000
off coz she wants to touch
the tummy (inaudible)
00:42:16.001 --> 00:42:19.999
she fits her head on either side,
she comes really close and
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
she kisses it. And then what do we do?
We feel if Devon(ph) is kicking. I wanna
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.960
go come and see. You wanna come and see him? Wanna go see him?
Come and see Devon(ph). Sweetheart can you kindly (inaudible)
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:31.999
I don\'t know is he\'s kicking. I
think he\'s sleeping. (inaudible)
00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:34.999
Let\'s see, if you
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:36.999
put your hands here (crosstalk)(inaudible)
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.999
He\'s kicking. Is he kicking? He\'s
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
sleeping darling. He\'s getting big. Oh, it\'s a
little kiss for Devon(ph). Oh, he likes that.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
When she told me I was like \"Great, you\'re gonna
have a baby.\" I don\'t know our family, you
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
know, is pretty unconventional on the whole
so there\'s nothing really sort of surprise us
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:57.999
anymore. We\'re very untraditional. We are
not the traditional family. (inaudible)
00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:59.999
beat her
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
on the butt. Oh my god (crosstalk) My older brother...
My older brother has been married four times. Yes.
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
Uhm, I\'m gay. Ah, Pip(ph) is a
single mother. I got multi-racial
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
adopted younger sisters. Yeah. Ah, the six kids, we
come from four different sets of parents. Yeah. So
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
really it\'s, you know, what\'s
single mother? Yes, so? You know.
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:22.040
You know, can\'t you do
better than that (inaudible)
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
What\'s so great about what\'s happening is
that the, the concept of family is just
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
being blown wide open so that it\'s
really, you know, family is basically
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
just any kind of, you know, group
of people who love each other.
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
[music] It\'s now been seven months
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
since the first insemination. I think when
I first started it I wanted to, to uhm,
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
get pregnant right away because part of it was I
didn\'t wanna lose my courage for what I was doing.
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
And once I knew I was pregnant then I knew that that would
have been the right thing to do because if God didn\'t think,
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
you know, that I should be a single mother on my own, then I\'d never
get pregnant. So maybe He\'s really questioning it now coz it\'s
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
been seven months. You\'re doing everything
that possibly can be done. Yeah.
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
You\'re dealing with donor specimens
that have proven fertility - Yeah.
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
- in, in ah, in multiple women versus
not just one. Uh-hmm. Uhm, the fact
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
that you know, you\'re being really carefully monitored
and everything is going really well - Uh-hmm. - uhm,
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
it\'s just a matter of time. Yeah. And if you
were in a situation where you were trying
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
on your own, you know, with a partner - Yeah.
- you could easily try for a year before
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
even going to the doctor to say - Oh, oh, yeah. No, I
know that. - we\'ve been trying for years so just hang
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
in there. Yeah.
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
[music]
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
Since the last time I spoke to you, I chose
four people from the letters I received.
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
And the first one I met, I met for dinner
one night and he was really handsome and
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
nice and smart but there are a couple of
things that weren\'t quite right for, for me.
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
Basically, different religion
I think was the main thing.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
One person wanted to know the child
and spend time with him, but then
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
they weren\'t willing to help, like pay for daycare or
anything. They sort of wanted all the good things without any
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
of the bad. One of them I\'m still in touch with
and we still talk on the phone. We\'ve met once
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
and he\'s still a potential. He\'s very,
very nice and he\'s handsome and bright
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
and I think he\'d have ah, nice-looking
children. I mean, I think that they\'d look...
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
Actually, he looks a lot like me
and I thought it funny that...
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
So that\'s kind of good. And I would
day that in three months from
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
now I\'ll either be pregnant or go
working on getting pregnant for sure.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
That\'s my prediction.
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
[music] I remember my first pre-natal
class. It was the first time that I
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
really got the difference of being, being
single and not just being a mom. I walked in
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
and there were all these couples. When I had my
coach with me but there were all these couples and
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
I could see, you know, little arms going over, you know,
getting pillows and people sort of doing this and
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
all of a sudden, I got it. I\'m
doing this alone. It\'s true(ph).
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
And there was a sadness there. I remember there
was a feeling of really for the first time, yeah,
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:27.999
this is gonna be hard... bring
up something (inaudible)
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:29.160
you\'re having the (inaudible)
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
uhm and it has to do with
touching each other.
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
By your touching... The difference is probably about
if I was in a relationship, if I was a couple and
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
having a baby coz when you\'re a couple it\'s
two people who have one vision, one goal and
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
it\'s a real team. You have that sense of
just oneness. And when you have a situation
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
like mine, it\'s not the team feeling.
There\'s a one-armed baseball player,
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
I mean, he\'s a very resilient guy and he\'s a
professional baseball player with one arm.
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
Does having two arms give
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
one an advantage in the game of baseball?
Yes it does.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
Does having two parents give
a child an advantage in the
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
game of growing up to be a happy child?
Yes it does. Do we have a
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
one-armed baseball player every once in a while? Yes we
do. I think that the Little House on the Prairie model
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
doesn\'t work anymore. I think we\'ve gone too far. And
I think in some ways I can see that\'s a terrible
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
shame. I think it\'s a terrible shame for men specially
coz they\'re gonna find it increasingly difficult to,
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
to feel comfortable with the way their family goes. And it\'s
not their fault. I mean, they didn\'t make those changes and
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
so many men have get screwed as well.
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
So Lea just tell me like how you\'re really feeling,
really. Well, how do you think I\'m feeling?
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
The last two or three months I\'m starting to think is
it ever really gonna work. Maybe, maybe it\'s meant to
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
be that I\'m not... that it\'s not gonna work.
Maybe that\'s, that\'s what I think. Maybe I\'m
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
not... maybe this is somebody\'s way of telling
me that... Lea, I\'ve told you time and
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
time and time again, people try for years.
How many times this has been? I know, but...
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
How many? Nine. Well, nine months. Well,
I know but... Lots of people try for
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
two years to get pregnant. But I don\'t
know if I\'m gonna be able to, to keep
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
up wanting to try like each month or
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
not each month but the seventh and the
seventh time and this time had been
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
the most depressing to me. It\'s almost to the point where
I don\'t wanna think about it. That\'s why I, I don\'t
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
cry about it - Okay. But you talked about... - because I don\'t
wanna get myself thinking that it\'s really gonna happen.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
But you talked about taking a break. So maybe that\'s the best thing.
I think you should talk to him, ask him if taking a break is gonna
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
affect it all. It seems to me perfectly
reasonable to say to a woman in her 30s,
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
you can\'t have everything. I think this is one of the great
myths with the western world, that you can have everything.
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
After all, no one says to the
woman of 38 who has spent
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
all her young years rearing her children, \"We will
give you a top job because you have your children,
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
now it\'s your right to have a top job.\" So why
should a woman who has a top job say okay, I\'m 30
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
and I have a right to have what... you know, the rest
of it as well. No. I think you do say to a woman
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
in her 30s, who has una... who was unable to met the
right sort of relationship with a man to... within
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
which she can, she can build her family and look after the children
and probably to say, hard luck, now that\'s the way that go, he
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
crumbles. You can\'t have it all. Yes. There\'s a part of
this whole process that\'s selfish. That I wanted to have a
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
kid but I also think, you know,
that I have a lot to give and
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
one of the reasons... Puppy. Okay, here\'s your puppy.
One of the reasons that, you know, I want to do it
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
was because I had a lot of love and I had a lot that I
wanted to give. I knew that... I was pretty sure I would
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
be a good mother and so it\'s... yes,
there\'s a piece that\'s selfish but so?
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
Optimally, I would have a great partner
who\'s a loving kind man, but in absence
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
of that, I think we\'re doing okay.
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
I had a really, really good time in Mexico.
I love having a tan so that part
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
was good and when I was coming back there was a family
sitting to my right on the plane. It was a mother,
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
father and four kids and when I looked at that
family I was like oh, that\'s what I want. The
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
mother and father were very obviously in love
and I just thought, Now, isn\'t that wonderful.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
And I thought here I am thinking of doing it on
my own and I was not too sure about it anymore.
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
When I looked back to putting the
ad in the paper, it makes me
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
realize how this whole thing has to be involved
and I feel very, very good about my decision
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
not to go ahead with that this time.
I just couldn\'t do it if I
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
hadn\'t feel anything for them and I didn\'t
want to spend the rest of my life possibly
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
looking at a child that looked exactly
like them. And, and I think that now
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
I\'m probably gonna start looking for a different
kind of man like all along I\'ve just been out
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
for, you know, to have fun and travel and
have a good time and I\'ve never been too
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
serious and I think it\'s about time. I think I might
sort of tracking(ph) a different kind of person
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
because that\'s what I wanna be looking for.
So uhm, I think at
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
this point what we need to talk about is
what\'s, what\'s gonna be your next step.
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
Well, I think definitely I\'m gonna stop for
now. I\'m gonna see what happens after this, but
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
it\'s been ten times, so I think it\'s a good time over the
summer for me to stop and - Uh-huh. - maybe take a little
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
pressure off myself and I\'ll see
maybe September, something like
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
that, I, I\'d ask a doctor what sort of an
effect if it had any, if I stop did it make a
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
difference. No, it won\'t make a difference. And he indicated no
as well, so... No. And I think it\'s a good idea for you to take a
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
break because you\'ve been going pretty intensely
- Yeah. - for the last almost a year Yeah.
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
[music]
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
So tiny. Need little boots. No that one doesn\'t
need boots, it\'s got little feet on it.
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
[sil.] (inaudible)
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Okay. All right,
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
mama\'s here. All right.
Oh dear, oh dear what a
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
sad baby. What\' the matter? You
want a kiss? I can\'t imagine
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
life before him. It\'s like life sort of
started when he was born. It\'s like a
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
whole segment of my life has
just opened up and ah, I\'m
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
madly in love. Who\'s the little Buddha?
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
I don\'t think anybody can say that this is
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
right for everybody. No, it\'s not gonna be right for everybody. But I
think if you have that feeling that you really, really wanna have a baby,
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
then don\'t, don\'t say no because
you aren\'t in a relationship.
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
Because it\'s like saying no to something so
primal in your life. I mean, it\'s just, yeah,
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
you have to do it.
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
Oh yeah. Here we go.
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
What do you think? What do you think?
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:13.000
[music] Ah, you folks yet around if you know a very healthy, very intelligent, very successful, outstandingly successful
man under 40, we would be... appreciate his name. We\'ll follow through if you give him a sugge... give us a suggestion.