The Child the Stork Brought Home

Combining interviews and cinema vérité techniques, this revealing documentary captures the social and emotional interplay between couples involved in a gestational surrogacy arrangement. Beginning with the successful transfer of the egg donor's embryo to the surrogate mother, filmmaker Gillian Goslinga-Roy follows the hopes and fears of the genetic parents--as well as the surrogate and her husband--as both couples make their way through various stages of the pregnancy, including multiple counseling sessions, doctor visits, and, finally, the premature birth of a baby girl, 34 weeks later. Interviews touch on the complex psychological and ethical issues at the core of such an arrangement. The surrogate mother, for instance, reveals how working for a doctor who specialized in terminating complicated pregnancies led to her emotional commitment to find work as a surrogate, and shares her deep disappointment and hurt over the genetic parents' decision to not pursue a lasting relationship with her. An interesting look at the ethical complexities of surrogate mothering, this is recommended, especially for women's studies and cultural anthropology collections. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)