''Mommy Mommy'' is a 2007

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Sylvie Rosenthal about a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

couple's five-year-long struggle to have a child.

Background

The film's subjects had been long-time friends and business associates with

Rezolution Pictures Rezolution Pictures is a film and television production company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, focusing primarily on Canadian Aboriginal productions. The company was founded in 2001 by the husband and wife team of Ernest Webb and Catherine ...

co-founders Catherine Bainbridge and

Ernest Webb Ernest James "Ernie" Webb (25 April 1874 – 24 February 1937) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 10 mile walk. He was born in Hackney and died in Toronto. Webb competed for the Herne Hill Harriers. He competed for Great Britai ...

, who thought that their personal story would help to illustrate the growing phenomenon of same-sex couple adoption in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, the first

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

to legalize the practice. The film represented a creative departure for Rezolution, which had previously focused on Canadian Aboriginal film and television productions.

Story

The couple's efforts began in 2001, with one of them hoping to conceive from a

sperm donor Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by hi ...

. After a year of trying unsuccessfully to become pregnant, they sought help from the

fertility clinic Fertility clinics are medical clinics that assist couples, and sometimes individuals, who want to become parents but for medical reasons have been unable to achieve this goal via the natural course. Clinics apply a number of diagnosis tests and s ...

at the Royal Victoria Hospital, only to find that treatment was refused to lesbians. After a complaint was filed with the

Quebec Human Rights Commission The ''Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse'' (CDPDJ; English: "Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission") is a government agency created by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in 1975. The current name a ...

by another couple, the hospital changed its policy. However, despite access to fertility drugs and continued efforts at

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...

, they were unable to conceive and their doctor suggested they adopt. They put themselves on a local list for adoption, where the wait could be as long as 10 years, and also explored

international adoption International adoption (also referred to as intercountry adoption or transnational adoption) is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple residing in one country becomes the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child who is a national of ...

, only to be told that no country in the world accepted same sex couples as parents. Then they heard about a lesbian couple in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

who had successfully adopted two children from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. However, Quebec's provincial body that controls international adoption had only approved one U.S. adoption agency: a

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

-based

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

agency that refused to place babies with anything other than married

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

couples. In spring 2006, Bainbridge and Webb noticed an advertisement in the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

newsweekly ''The Nation'', which they also co-own, from Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, an agency for abused and neglected children. The agency was looking for someone to adopt a Canadian Aboriginal child. The couple learn that there is a 7-month-old boy who also has a sister on the way, both in need of a home. At the end of the film, after a long and Byzantine process, the couple have two children of their own.

Release

''Mommy Mommy'' was screened at

Reel Pride Reel Pride is an annual gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and two-spirit film and video festival produced by the Winnipeg Gay and Lesbian Film Society in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Randall King"Reel Pride film fest set to celebrate 35 years" ''Wi ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and Image + Nation in

, and had its television premiere on

CBC Newsworld CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

on December 4, 2007. It was then screened at the Women in Film Festival in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in March 2008 and rebroadcast on CBC for

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

References

External links

*
CBC Webpage
{{Rezolution Pictures 2007 television films 2007 films Quebec films Documentary films about adoption English-language Canadian films Documentary films about lesbians Films shot in Montreal LGBT adoption 2007 documentary films Films shot in Kingston, Ontario Rezolution Pictures films 2007 LGBT-related films Women in Quebec 2000s Canadian films Canadian LGBT-related documentary films

Background

Story

Release

See also

References

External links