Coming to PBS’ America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 22: ROMEO ROMEO
Lizzie Gottlieb’s chronicle of a lesbian couple’s attempts to conceive a child had its world premiere at the Hamptons in 2012. Its fest circuit also included Frameline, Philadelphia QFest, Ft Lauderdale LGBT, Tampa LGBT, and Mix Copenhagen, among others.
After Lexy and Jessica got married, the couple began to plan their family. While they initially consider using a known sperm donor, they instead opt for an anonymous one, thinking it will make things easier, and deplete their savings to buy sperm online. As has become an increasingly worrying issue for countless would-be parents, the path to pregnancy didn’t end there. Gottlieb films the couple through frustrating attempts and heartbreaking false starts, pharmaceutical therapies, and concerns that maybe they just won’t be able to have their son, who they want to name Romeo, after all. While the film breaks no new ground – the topic of same-sex parents trying to have kids has been amply covered in several other documentaries – Gottlieb’s subjects are warm, appealing, and vulnerable, quickly garnering the viewer’s empathy and support.
what (not) to doc 