Single Choice: Many Lives

Single Choice: Many Lives, a film by Anne Catherine Hundhausen, explores several people who's lives intersect with one another through the implications of donor insemination. Hundhausen starts the documentary inquiring the procedures and ramifications of undergoing artificial insemination by inviting the viewer into doctor appointments, addressing the fact she is in her late 30s and society deems her physically incapable of bearing a child at this point (the documentary opens with a quote "A woman in her 40s is more likely to be killed by a terrorist then to have a child"), and explains the tumultuous years she's spent dating different men to no avail. Hundhausen's story has really captured me on a personal level, by inviting me into her past life and discussing her uncertainty in childbearing. To help aid her decision she interviews several mothers who are in the process of or having had children via donor insemination and the relationships then these children have with this decision and those that decided to donate.
The interviews are extremely enlightening and thought provoking. The way in which Hundhausen fills in the gaps between interviewing each person individually and follows up with her own thoughts and commentary humanizes the situation. Hundhausen's use of imagery in her dream sequence scenes tie together the abstract and concrete ideas of the story. It brings forth a mysterious, unknowing feeling which can certainly be felt throughout the film - the viewer is left wondering, is donor insemination a good choice for me? Is it ethical?

Listening to the mothers being so open about their choice of childbearing breaks down the traditional maternal and paternal roles - it destroys the traditional role of the family and allows a collective family through other donor siblings. Since there is no limit to how many times you can donate, it turns out that there can be numerous siblings from the same donor which happens to be the case for one of the individuals in the film. It questions what the norm or tradition of our society is and what it really has become. In the end, Hundhausen still is not sure of her decision to have a baby and may be even more confused then when she started, but she certainly was granted the opportunity to see the many perspectives of this issue.