Summary: After waiting for Mr. Right (who has yet to arrive) - and after years of fertility treatments - Suzanne, a single woman in her forties, decided to adopt. She chose transracial adoption.
This is a great, great piece. I could say so much about how imtimate and honest it is, how important the subject matter, how beautiful the production.....
it is all those things.
And what I really loved the most about it, from a radio head point of view, is the way time and tense were dealt with in the story. There were all these bautiful moments where we were hearing interview/ present tense narration, layered in with reflection/ past tense description, layered on to ambiance, present tense scene tape. It was so rich and complex, and yet came off in such an elegant and simple sound.
The piece deserves all the praise it is getting. If you're a programmer, you should find a way to air this piece.
The piece that I decided to review was dear birth mother I really found this piece interesting because o never really realized how difficult it was to get people to adopt African American children I always thought that people saw the babies the same way children are all the same to me but it is clear that not everyone sees it that way. I did like the fact that in the parent classes they had beads to try and bring an understanding to the fact that the neighborhoods that these people live in are not necessarily ones that the African American children would be completely comfortable in but in all I think that this piece was really well put together and informative I enjoyed it a lot.
This is the kind of feature that reaches through your ears to grab your heart. The Long Haul Pros did a beautiful job recording the people involved with this story and also, evidently, of training the principals to use the mics in intimate situations. Listening to this piece really reinforces the amazing power of good storytelling and the importance of finding the right characters to bring issues to life.
What an unbelievable follow up to Babyquest, Long Haul's previous piece about a woman undergoing fertility treatments. The access the producers had to this woman's journey as she undergoes the process of transracial adoption is phenomenal. Every scene is so rich in detail, emotion and doesn't pull any punches. From the ethical discussions of a white woman adopting a Black baby to the tensions between her own mom and finally to the unreal scene of receiving her baby from the birthmom in a restaurant. These are all gems of human interaction you could never write or fictionalize with any verity. Dear Birth Mother is an achievement in documentary making and the topic is one that would be very pertinent and dear to public radio listeners.
This is a piece that humanizes what can be a touchy issue: bi-racial adoption. It was intense to hear from an adoption lawyer say that it agencies lower the cost of adopting black babies because it's so much harder to get them adopted. What moved me the most in this piece were Suzanne's interactions with her daughter Loretta's birth mother (whose identity is not revealed). Those interactions brought emotion into what could seem like a strangely businesslike transaction. Listen for the end, when the birth mother answeres Suzanne's questions about herself and her family that Suzanne can later tell to Loretta when she gets older. I like that the piece was narrated by Suzanne, though she seemed slightly wooden at times, like she was reciting something rather than telling a story. But overall a moving, intense piece.
Deep within our sense of completeness or incompleteness lies a drive so fundamental that it extends us beyond our worst fears and toward our greatest hope. The hope that we may be important. That which needs us may frighten us away. Or, it may provide an opportunity to prove that we are immeasurable givers.
This piece is perfect. Plain and simply, perfect. A 40 year-old woman has given-up waiting for a man and found a baby girl in need of her love. Crossing socially drawn lines to extend her reach, an adoptive mother becomes one more woman to shape destiny and the fate of inter-racial dialogue.
Comments for Dear Birth Mother
This piece belongs to the series "Becoming a Mom"
Produced by Long Haul Productions and Dan Collison & Elizabeth Meister
Other pieces by Long Haul Productions
Rating Summary
6 comments
Emily Hanford
Posted on November 06, 2005 at 04:24 PM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
This is a great, great piece. I could say so much about how imtimate and honest it is, how important the subject matter, how beautiful the production.....
it is all those things.
And what I really loved the most about it, from a radio head point of view, is the way time and tense were dealt with in the story. There were all these bautiful moments where we were hearing interview/ present tense narration, layered in with reflection/ past tense description, layered on to ambiance, present tense scene tape. It was so rich and complex, and yet came off in such an elegant and simple sound.
The piece deserves all the praise it is getting. If you're a programmer, you should find a way to air this piece.
jocelyn rivera
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 04:51 PM | Permalink
:)
The piece that I decided to review was dear birth mother I really found this piece interesting because o never really realized how difficult it was to get people to adopt African American children I always thought that people saw the babies the same way children are all the same to me but it is clear that not everyone sees it that way. I did like the fact that in the parent classes they had beads to try and bring an understanding to the fact that the neighborhoods that these people live in are not necessarily ones that the African American children would be completely comfortable in but in all I think that this piece was really well put together and informative I enjoyed it a lot.
Ben Trefny
Posted on October 04, 2005 at 10:13 PM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
This is the kind of feature that reaches through your ears to grab your heart. The Long Haul Pros did a beautiful job recording the people involved with this story and also, evidently, of training the principals to use the mics in intimate situations. Listening to this piece really reinforces the amazing power of good storytelling and the importance of finding the right characters to bring issues to life.
Dmae Lo Roberts
Posted on August 30, 2005 at 08:04 PM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
What an unbelievable follow up to Babyquest, Long Haul's previous piece about a woman undergoing fertility treatments. The access the producers had to this woman's journey as she undergoes the process of transracial adoption is phenomenal. Every scene is so rich in detail, emotion and doesn't pull any punches. From the ethical discussions of a white woman adopting a Black baby to the tensions between her own mom and finally to the unreal scene of receiving her baby from the birthmom in a restaurant. These are all gems of human interaction you could never write or fictionalize with any verity. Dear Birth Mother is an achievement in documentary making and the topic is one that would be very pertinent and dear to public radio listeners.
Sarah Elzas
Posted on July 06, 2005 at 06:36 AM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
This is a piece that humanizes what can be a touchy issue: bi-racial adoption. It was intense to hear from an adoption lawyer say that it agencies lower the cost of adopting black babies because it's so much harder to get them adopted. What moved me the most in this piece were Suzanne's interactions with her daughter Loretta's birth mother (whose identity is not revealed). Those interactions brought emotion into what could seem like a strangely businesslike transaction. Listen for the end, when the birth mother answeres Suzanne's questions about herself and her family that Suzanne can later tell to Loretta when she gets older. I like that the piece was narrated by Suzanne, though she seemed slightly wooden at times, like she was reciting something rather than telling a story. But overall a moving, intense piece.
Sondra Sneed
Posted on July 05, 2005 at 06:29 PM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
Deep within our sense of completeness or incompleteness lies a drive so fundamental that it extends us beyond our worst fears and toward our greatest hope. The hope that we may be important. That which needs us may frighten us away. Or, it may provide an opportunity to prove that we are immeasurable givers.
This piece is perfect. Plain and simply, perfect. A 40 year-old woman has given-up waiting for a man and found a baby girl in need of her love. Crossing socially drawn lines to extend her reach, an adoptive mother becomes one more woman to shape destiny and the fate of inter-racial dialogue.