Appropriate for: High School College/University
Browse Films
Maybe Baby
by Shannon O'RourkeWhat happens when single women give up looking for Mr. Right and settle for Mr. Right's DNA?
Watch TrailerMAYBE BABY is an intimate, provocative documentary that takes a new look at the emotional journeys of single women in their '30s and '40s as they pursue pregnancy through the world of Assisted Reproductive Technology, a multi-billion dollar industry on the cutting edge of medicine and science. Against a backdrop of ticking biological clocks, this riveting 60-minute film illuminates basic human questions of life, love, fertility, and the meaning of motherhood today.
This terrific documentary follows half-a-dozen single women (including one lesbian couple,) trying to have children through in-vitro fertilization. We take the ride with them through donor selection, pregnancy tests, impregnations, miscarriages and a few real live babies at the end. The amazingly unobtrusive camera captures their hopes and misgivings, joy and despair as these very brave women weave their way through medical appointments, support groups, and family discussions. Anyone actually considering in-vitro, let alone just interested in the human dimension of reproductive science, should see this film.
Rick Bolton
Film Fresh
A beautiful film. Poignant, moving, and important.
Debora L. Spar, President
Barnard College
Author of "The Baby Business"
These women's interwoven stories make up Maybe Baby, Shannon O'Rourke's heartfelt documentary about baby love, the fertility gamble, and the changing face of the American family. Filmed over four years with remarkable candor, the film follows the "emotional endurance test" of donor selection, shots, symptoms, and side effects, pee sticks and blood tests, ultrasounds, and fateful announcements. Meanwhile, it raises questions about the ramifications social and personal of single motherhood by choice.
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
Filmmaker Shannon O'Rourke's MAYBE BABY was another bright spot (and much more than a catchy name.) It's an intimate documentary that traces the emotional and physiological journeys of four middle-aged women as they pursue pregnancy ... It's a heartrending tale that sheds light on what motherhood means in contemporary America.
Marlow Stern
Manhattan Movie Magazine
A frank and intimate exploration of single women pursuing motherhood in a
brave new world of technology, absent partners and biological clocks that
may run out. O'Rourke's casting, the trust she engenders from her subjects,
combined with the clarity she brings to the medical and cultural issues
involved, make for a timely and compelling film.
Amanda Pope
Associate Professor
University of Southern California
School of Cinematic Arts
AWARDS & SCREENINGS:
- Grand Festival Award, Documentary, Berkeley Video & Film Festival
- South by Southwest
- IFP Market
- St. John's Women's Festival
- LA Femme Festival
- Davis Film Festival
- Kansas City Jubilee
Visit the official website for Maybe Baby

