2 Mums and a Dad

[Graeme]

7:30pm, Tuesday 22nd January 2008 on SBS

2 Mums and a Dad

 

Continuing SBS's Future Families season of programs is the award-winning documentary 2 Mums and a Dad, the story of the rocky road of three-way parenting. 2 Mums and a Dad is a unique exploration of the nature of family in today's complicated society. It is a sometimes roller coaster ride from pregnancy to parenthood in a most unusual unit, while also tackling universal issues of relevance for anyone with a family. Fiona is thirty-three and wants to have a baby, but her partner, Kellie, is a woman and sperm isn't part of their equation. However, Fiona has a solution: an English gay guy from work wants to be a dad. Fiona and Kelly want their child to have a father. It seems to be the perfect solution, but is it? (From Australia, in English) (Documentary Series) PG (A,S) WS

 

I just saw the ad for this on TV. I don't know if I'll get a chance to watch it, but I intend to try.

[acassimaty]

You should definitely give this a shot. I managed to catch this at the Sydney Film Festival last year and I liked it very much. It was well made, touching and extremely funny. I particularly liked Kelly and her sarcastic attitude to the whole situation. Highly recommended.

[Graeme]

I managed to see most of it last night. It was quite interesting. As my wife said, it's a good lesson on what NOT to do in that situation.

 

Darren clearly wanted to be a dad, and while he initially took what he was offered to become a dad, he wanted more. Conversely, Fiona and Kellie realised that they had given Darren more than they really wanted to give -- he was going to have more access to the baby than they were comfortable with.

 

The key scene, to me, was after the birth and Fiona mentioned seeing a counsellor. Unless she wanted to spend years taking her son around to a stranger, she and Kellie would have to become comfortable with Darren.

 

None of the three really understood what they were getting into (which is true of all parents ). They weren't a threesome, but that's what they had to become, for the sake of the baby, and most of the troubles they had was getting to that understanding. There initial expectations were unreasonable -- like when Darren was upset that Fiona and Kellie hadn't come to see him at that stand. Why should they? He was right, in that they were developing (through necessity) a relationship that like a close friendship, but at that time they didn't have it. He may have unconsciously understood that that is what they needed to do, but he didn't go about it very well.

 

But it appears to have ended well I hope they're still going strong and that Marley is growing up happy and loved by both his mums, and his dad.