Future Baby

Filmmaker Maria Arlamovsky takes a low-key, global-picture look at modern, medical-assisted baby-making. As one interviewee puts it, what would have been considered science-fiction a few decades ago is now commonplace. Potential mothers who seem to be past birthing age, same-sex couples, or practically anyone, can now achieve offspring, via in-vitro fertilization, paid surrogate mothers, and agencies claiming to represent premium-quality sperm and ovum (donors look like showroom-supermodels in their computer profiles; most are struggling students earning their way through college). People now behave as though reproduction is an entitlement, says bioethicist Carmel Shalev. The overall impression given here is of a union between business and science that is advancing too fast for laws, healthcare, and an understanding of the consequences to keep pace. Some grown children resulting from such treatments now find themselves stonewalled as to the identity of their biological parents—who might even have been long dead at the time their frozen seed was purchased. Also interviewing authors Anna Smajdor and Miriam Zoll, the film travels from the U.S. to Vienna, Israel, and Mexico to offer an interesting look at the science and ethics of cutting-edge human reproduction. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)