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Amos Lassen wrote on 10/30/2009:

“Fatherhood Dreams”

Three Families with Gay Fathers

Amos Lassen


Randy and Drew are a Canadian married couple, Steve co-parents his daughters with two lesbian mothers and Scott is a surrogate father to twins. What these men have in common is that they are gay. This film concentrates on them and we get an interesting look at gay fathers. They all live in Vancouver, Canada and are in various stages of parenting.
Randy and Drew adopted a baby boy from a young girl who could not take care of another child. Stephen is co-parent to two daughters—one is his biological child, the other is his wife’s child with her lesbian partner. Scott is looking for a surrogate to have his children. He finds himself at war with an unsympathetic clinic and he is a bit unhappy that he is not in a relationship but then again he has two newborns.
The film looks at the expected issue of gay parenting and it begins with a series of man on the street interviews that look at the controversial subject. Yet the film looks at other issues of gay parenting like what happens when a child is asked “Where’s mommy?” by strangers and how is networking among gay parents happening. We see the implications of finding a partner when there is a child present and how the stakes of being gay are being raised by gay parenting. Some families will accept the gayness of its child but will not accept the idea of gay fathers.
The interviews with teens and children are wonderful and the day-to-day depiction of life is fascinating. We see the truth on a daily basis and realize that a gay family is just like any other family.
There are excellent bonus features on the DVD. One is about Kelly, a gay man who is considering becoming a parent and questions the implications for his partner and his family. Another is about Murray and Dwayne who are parenting two adopted boys.
The film is above all an honest look at gay parenting and it has a lot to say about the issue including some aspects that many of us have not considered.