Choosing Children

Hailed as a pioneering achievement when it was first released in 1984, Choosing Children dramatically challenged the assumption that being a lesbian means you can’t be a mom. Six lesbian-headed families make decisions about how to navigate the process of adoption or becoming pregnant. They also explore questions around how to address reactions from relatives, doctors and schoolmates and how to involve men in parenting. In so doing, they help redefine what “family” means and open the door for everyone to consider parenting, regardless of sexual orientation.

The original 16mm film print was preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive as part of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation with digital restoration by Zoetrope Aubry Productions.

Preservation was funded by the Andrew J. Kuehn, Jr. Foundation, with support from The Women’s Film Preservation Fund of New York Women in Film & Television and Outfest.

The Choosing Children DVD comes packaged with a 20-minute short film, The Back Story, in which directors Kim Klausner and Debra Chasnoff tell the story of how and why they made this historically significant documentary.

Running Time: 46 minutes

DVD features:

• Spanish subtitles

• English subtitles