Teenagers born through IVF/surrogacy sought
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
The Fertility Matters Foundation is seeking teenagers to make a short films about themselves, where the teens have been:
– -Donor conceived child with mother and father
– – Donor conceived child with same sex parents
– -Surrogate conceived child
– – IVF conceived child with solo parent
– -Frozen embryo conceived child
The aim of the exercise is to talk about how people are conceived and normalise the many ways that families can look.
The details!
Long gone is the “traditional” family structure of mum, dad and 2.4 children. Today, with the help of fertility treatments, families can look quite different.
With at least one student in each classroom born through fertility treatments, Fertility Matters aims to talk about, and normalize, the many ways families can look.
This “Diversity of Families” component will be presented in a short 5-minute maximum film with teaching notes to introduce and conclude. The film will focus on 4-5 teenagers from a range of family structures.
The intention is for the film to be short, sharp and in narrative style of the focus teenagers. Essentially a minute snapshot each, filmed on a hand held device and cut together in a fast paced segment.
Family Diversity
Fertility Matters wants to illustrate a range of the family structures such as;
– Donor conceived child with mother and father
– Donor conceived child with same sex parents
– Surrogate conceived child
– IVF conceived child with solo parent
– Frozen embryo conceived child
Process
With written consent from the identified and willing focus teenagers, Fertility Matters will give them some guidance on direction, but teenagers would film a short clip to camera (selfie style) where they can talk about their childhood and family. Family members who consent to be on camera are welcome to be part of the process, but the story is the teenagers’ narrative.
Points to cover in clip
– Who they are and age
– If they have siblings and if those siblings were conceived differently to them
– Who they live with
– Who biological parents are / how they were conceived
– What it feels like for them growing up
Conclusion
Fertility Matters is asking for help shaping this part of the package. Identifying teenagers from diverse backgrounds and family structures is a key part of making this component fun, engaging and relevant to other Year 10 students. Any help you can give in suggesting possible focus teenagers to be a part of the project would be welcomed.
Contacts:
Rebecca Featherstone Jelen
+61 405 126 700
Candice Thum
+64 21 633 364
