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BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s new documentary HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM premieres on Documentary Channel
Wednesday February 22nd 2017BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s timely new documentary, HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM, will have its World Premiere on documentary Channel Tuesday, February 28 at 10 pm & 1 am ET / 7 pm & 10 PM PT. The documentary plunges viewers into the heart of one of life’s most difficult, intimate decisions, following two Canadian couples and their surrogates on a journey fraught with emotional, legal and financial hurdles. Will these stories end in joy or in crushing disappointment?
Surrogacy has exploded in Canada and around the world. With infertility tripling in the last three decades and the sanction of same-sex unions, there’s a surge in couples seeking babies. Hundreds of Canadian women have signed on to carry babies for strangers. It’s an expensive process, with fees to fertility clinics, surrogacy facilitating agencies, lawyers and therapists. Pretty well everyone gets paid except for the surrogates themselves. Surrogacy is legal in Canada, but only if it’s for altruistic reasons, meaning surrogates can be compensated for expenses only, a situation leaving a host of critics – ethicists, surrogacy agencies, politicians and feminists – all clamouring for changes in the law.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM follows Edmonton couple Sarah and Jason Geisler and surrogate Heather Chaput, and Montreal couple Phillipe Robert and Phillipe Malo and Woodstock, Ontario surrogate Eilise Marten, as they navigate the many challenges of surrogate parenting.
The film traces the steps these couples go through to connect with a surrogate mother, from first meeting (“it was a little like online dating”, one confides) through pregnancy and birth. The film also travels to the UK to hear Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother relate the high-profile public controversy she endured, and to India, where the practice of Indian women acting as surrogates for First World couples has become a contentious political issue involving charges of colonialism, mistreatment and exploitation.
With countries like India and Mexico now banning commercial surrogacy because of abuses, Canada, for financial reasons, suddenly finds itself a very attractive ‘reproductive tourism’ destination for foreign couples seeking surrogates. As Sally Rhoades-Heinrich of Surrogacy in Canada Online explains: “Their other option is the U.S., where $36,000 is the average amount that women are receiving to be a surrogate. Then a hospital does a C-section. A month in ICU, maybe twins. Canadian women are free. And we have a free health care system. Wow!”
HAVING OUR BABY ranges far and wide getting expert opinion and insight on all aspects of surrogate parenting from specialists in the field including fertility counsellors and those operating fertility clinics, lawyers, medical ethicists, academics, psychologists, politicians, journalists, a group of Canadian surrogate mothers…and a vocal opponent of surrogacy.
Says HAVING OUR BABY producer/director Nick Orchard: “What’s clear is that surrogacy’s time has come. It’s booming, but it’s also a real minefield for those embarking on it. I wanted to explore the subject because it has so many evolving facets: legal; ethical; psychological; and economic – it’s like a river with many, many rapids. Yet, no matter the obstacles, and beyond all the controversy, for those directly involved, surrogacy goes to the heart of what it means to be a parent, to love, and to be human.”
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is complemented by a national online poll that launched January 2017, inviting Canadians to weigh in on some of the provocative issues surrounding surrogacy in Canada. The poll at www.havingourbaby.com takes Canadians through ten questions, giving background from the documentary, presenting both sides of the ethical dilemmas faced, and encouraging a vote in advance of the documentary broadcast. Discussions have also been taking place on Facebook and Twitter indicating that surrogacy is a ‘hot button’ issue for many in the country.
HAVING OUR BABY will have encore showings on documentary Channel on Tues, March 7 at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT; and Saturday, March 25 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is directed and produced by Nick Orchard. Writer is Maureen Palmer; DOP is John Collins; Editor is Peter Svab; Location Sound by Pat Brereton; Composer is Lesley Sutherland. For documentary Channel, Bruce Cowley is Creative Head and Jordana Ross is Production Executive.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is produced by Soapbox Productions Inc. in association with documentary Channel, and with the participation of the TELUS Fund, the Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Canada Media Fund, the Province of British Columbia – Film Incentive BC, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and Rogers Telefund. The project was developed with the participation of Creative BC.
Front Page, Headline, Industry News
BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s new documentary HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM premieres on Documentary Channel
Wednesday February 22nd 2017BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s timely new documentary, HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM, will have its World Premiere on documentary Channel Tuesday, February 28 at 10 pm & 1 am ET / 7 pm & 10 PM PT. The documentary plunges viewers into the heart of one of life’s most difficult, intimate decisions, following two Canadian couples and their surrogates on a journey fraught with emotional, legal and financial hurdles. Will these stories end in joy or in crushing disappointment?
Surrogacy has exploded in Canada and around the world. With infertility tripling in the last three decades and the sanction of same-sex unions, there’s a surge in couples seeking babies. Hundreds of Canadian women have signed on to carry babies for strangers. It’s an expensive process, with fees to fertility clinics, surrogacy facilitating agencies, lawyers and therapists. Pretty well everyone gets paid except for the surrogates themselves. Surrogacy is legal in Canada, but only if it’s for altruistic reasons, meaning surrogates can be compensated for expenses only, a situation leaving a host of critics – ethicists, surrogacy agencies, politicians and feminists – all clamouring for changes in the law.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM follows Edmonton couple Sarah and Jason Geisler and surrogate Heather Chaput, and Montreal couple Phillipe Robert and Phillipe Malo and Woodstock, Ontario surrogate Eilise Marten, as they navigate the many challenges of surrogate parenting.
The film traces the steps these couples go through to connect with a surrogate mother, from first meeting (“it was a little like online dating”, one confides) through pregnancy and birth. The film also travels to the UK to hear Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother relate the high-profile public controversy she endured, and to India, where the practice of Indian women acting as surrogates for First World couples has become a contentious political issue involving charges of colonialism, mistreatment and exploitation.
With countries like India and Mexico now banning commercial surrogacy because of abuses, Canada, for financial reasons, suddenly finds itself a very attractive ‘reproductive tourism’ destination for foreign couples seeking surrogates. As Sally Rhoades-Heinrich of Surrogacy in Canada Online explains: “Their other option is the U.S., where $36,000 is the average amount that women are receiving to be a surrogate. Then a hospital does a C-section. A month in ICU, maybe twins. Canadian women are free. And we have a free health care system. Wow!”
HAVING OUR BABY ranges far and wide getting expert opinion and insight on all aspects of surrogate parenting from specialists in the field including fertility counsellors and those operating fertility clinics, lawyers, medical ethicists, academics, psychologists, politicians, journalists, a group of Canadian surrogate mothers…and a vocal opponent of surrogacy.
Says HAVING OUR BABY producer/director Nick Orchard: “What’s clear is that surrogacy’s time has come. It’s booming, but it’s also a real minefield for those embarking on it. I wanted to explore the subject because it has so many evolving facets: legal; ethical; psychological; and economic – it’s like a river with many, many rapids. Yet, no matter the obstacles, and beyond all the controversy, for those directly involved, surrogacy goes to the heart of what it means to be a parent, to love, and to be human.”
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is complemented by a national online poll that launched January 2017, inviting Canadians to weigh in on some of the provocative issues surrounding surrogacy in Canada. The poll at www.havingourbaby.com takes Canadians through ten questions, giving background from the documentary, presenting both sides of the ethical dilemmas faced, and encouraging a vote in advance of the documentary broadcast. Discussions have also been taking place on Facebook and Twitter indicating that surrogacy is a ‘hot button’ issue for many in the country.
HAVING OUR BABY will have encore showings on documentary Channel on Tues, March 7 at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT; and Saturday, March 25 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is directed and produced by Nick Orchard. Writer is Maureen Palmer; DOP is John Collins; Editor is Peter Svab; Location Sound by Pat Brereton; Composer is Lesley Sutherland. For documentary Channel, Bruce Cowley is Creative Head and Jordana Ross is Production Executive.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is produced by Soapbox Productions Inc. in association with documentary Channel, and with the participation of the TELUS Fund, the Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Canada Media Fund, the Province of British Columbia – Film Incentive BC, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and Rogers Telefund. The project was developed with the participation of Creative BC.
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Front Page, Headline, Industry News
BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s new documentary HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM premieres on Documentary Channel
Wednesday February 22nd 2017BC filmmaker Nick Orchard’s timely new documentary, HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM, will have its World Premiere on documentary Channel Tuesday, February 28 at 10 pm & 1 am ET / 7 pm & 10 PM PT. The documentary plunges viewers into the heart of one of life’s most difficult, intimate decisions, following two Canadian couples and their surrogates on a journey fraught with emotional, legal and financial hurdles. Will these stories end in joy or in crushing disappointment?
Surrogacy has exploded in Canada and around the world. With infertility tripling in the last three decades and the sanction of same-sex unions, there’s a surge in couples seeking babies. Hundreds of Canadian women have signed on to carry babies for strangers. It’s an expensive process, with fees to fertility clinics, surrogacy facilitating agencies, lawyers and therapists. Pretty well everyone gets paid except for the surrogates themselves. Surrogacy is legal in Canada, but only if it’s for altruistic reasons, meaning surrogates can be compensated for expenses only, a situation leaving a host of critics – ethicists, surrogacy agencies, politicians and feminists – all clamouring for changes in the law.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM follows Edmonton couple Sarah and Jason Geisler and surrogate Heather Chaput, and Montreal couple Phillipe Robert and Phillipe Malo and Woodstock, Ontario surrogate Eilise Marten, as they navigate the many challenges of surrogate parenting.
The film traces the steps these couples go through to connect with a surrogate mother, from first meeting (“it was a little like online dating”, one confides) through pregnancy and birth. The film also travels to the UK to hear Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother relate the high-profile public controversy she endured, and to India, where the practice of Indian women acting as surrogates for First World couples has become a contentious political issue involving charges of colonialism, mistreatment and exploitation.
With countries like India and Mexico now banning commercial surrogacy because of abuses, Canada, for financial reasons, suddenly finds itself a very attractive ‘reproductive tourism’ destination for foreign couples seeking surrogates. As Sally Rhoades-Heinrich of Surrogacy in Canada Online explains: “Their other option is the U.S., where $36,000 is the average amount that women are receiving to be a surrogate. Then a hospital does a C-section. A month in ICU, maybe twins. Canadian women are free. And we have a free health care system. Wow!”
HAVING OUR BABY ranges far and wide getting expert opinion and insight on all aspects of surrogate parenting from specialists in the field including fertility counsellors and those operating fertility clinics, lawyers, medical ethicists, academics, psychologists, politicians, journalists, a group of Canadian surrogate mothers…and a vocal opponent of surrogacy.
Says HAVING OUR BABY producer/director Nick Orchard: “What’s clear is that surrogacy’s time has come. It’s booming, but it’s also a real minefield for those embarking on it. I wanted to explore the subject because it has so many evolving facets: legal; ethical; psychological; and economic – it’s like a river with many, many rapids. Yet, no matter the obstacles, and beyond all the controversy, for those directly involved, surrogacy goes to the heart of what it means to be a parent, to love, and to be human.”
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is complemented by a national online poll that launched January 2017, inviting Canadians to weigh in on some of the provocative issues surrounding surrogacy in Canada. The poll at www.havingourbaby.com takes Canadians through ten questions, giving background from the documentary, presenting both sides of the ethical dilemmas faced, and encouraging a vote in advance of the documentary broadcast. Discussions have also been taking place on Facebook and Twitter indicating that surrogacy is a ‘hot button’ issue for many in the country.
HAVING OUR BABY will have encore showings on documentary Channel on Tues, March 7 at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT; and Saturday, March 25 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is directed and produced by Nick Orchard. Writer is Maureen Palmer; DOP is John Collins; Editor is Peter Svab; Location Sound by Pat Brereton; Composer is Lesley Sutherland. For documentary Channel, Bruce Cowley is Creative Head and Jordana Ross is Production Executive.
HAVING OUR BABY: THE SURROGACY BOOM is produced by Soapbox Productions Inc. in association with documentary Channel, and with the participation of the TELUS Fund, the Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Canada Media Fund, the Province of British Columbia – Film Incentive BC, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and Rogers Telefund. The project was developed with the participation of Creative BC.
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