« Next Page
« Previous Page
Home

Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

Is the movie Eggsploitation, exploiting itself?

January 14, 2011 | By:

I know I haven’t been blogging very much and I know I keep promising that I will.  Honestly, I have been trying to determine what type of “voice” I want my blog to have.  Do I want to be a voice of comfort, reassurance and peace of mind, do I want to discuss topics that are highly relevant and even personal to me with respect to infertility as I am an infertility warrior, or do I want to speak as an expert in my field and educate people.  I suppose I could find a way to do all three and I haven’t yet found the right “pitch” (just continuing the voice metaphor here folks) to launch some knew blogs.  And I think I found it.

I try and stay out of highly controversial discussions in my industry and to avoid taking sides unless I feel passionately about the issue.  Sometimes blogging backfires (ala Sarah Palin’s recent “hit list” and the resulting death of 15 people).  But I have come across another of those issues that MUST be discussed, so I am hereby entering into the foray and it’s along the lines of my “what was Brooke Shields thinking” blogs.

Let’s get real for a moment and turn to a movie reel about egg donation.

I today learned that the “documentary” Eggsploitation was announced to have been nominated as best documentary.  When I read this on FaceBook this morning I almost vomitted.  For those of you who haven’t seen it . . . and please don’t see it if you are considering either becoming an egg donor or using an egg donor to build a family . . . it is highly inaccurate and inflammatory.  Please understand that I am trying to be nice.

The movie is an attempt by right wing, pro-life. Christian conservatives to reveal the “real world of egg donation”.  And Honey, it doesn’t.  It serves one purpose only, to promote an anti-IVF anti-egg donation agenda.  And in my mind it isn’t a documentary unless you are basing your documentary on something with a substantial amount of truth or accuracy.  A documentary by one definition is the “creative treatment of actuality”.  I will agree to the creative part with respect to this film, but not the actuality part (with one caveat, I will agree that egg donation exists as a means to build a family).  Another definition says that a documentary presents the facts with little or no additions.  Isn’t it a failure to present the facts if you only present one side, or one statistically insignificant, rare and otherwise atypical aspect of something, i.e. ONE fact when there are many facts to be discussed?

This film is based on untruths, inaccuracies, mythical stories, and an agenda. It veils itself as a documentary in order to lend some false sense of “truth” to the movie’s topic, the exploitation of egg donors and recipient families all to the benefit of the massive money generating industry of reproductive medicine.

The reproductive industry has responded many times in opposition to the film, as have many of my colleagues (for example, here is another blog on the topic http://weblog.prospectivefamilies.com/2011/01/13/what-more-is-there-to-say-about-eggsploitation/ ).  I think it’s pretty much a universal sentiment in my world, both professional and personal, that this movie has nothing to do with reality and is serving to mislead the general public about a viable and very successful means of family building, egg donation.

I really think it has gotten to the point that the movie is now exploiting itself for its own financial benefit.   They are now twisting all the negative media attention into an argument that if they weren’t so “right” about the industry that there wouldn’t be so many defensive and anti-Eggsploitation blogs/articles/reviews.  It’s kind of like the old saying “you know you’ve done something right if they’re shooting at you!”  And they are using that to drive more people into movie theaters.

Well I don’t think they’ve done anything right, I am disgusted by the MOVIE, and I am disgusted that anyone would think it was worthy of the title “best” in anything.  I haven’t spoken out before because I didn’t want to further publicize this movie and thus encourage people to watch it — even if it is to see how wrong it is.

And for the love of all that is sacred about the word FAMILY, I respectfully request that the movie industry get a grip and get real.  Don’t endorse this movie.  Many a Hollywood family has been created through the gift of egg donation.  Do you really want to slap your egg donor in the face like that?  By promoting, endorsing, and casting something that she did to help you have a baby and a family, in such a negative, illicit and patronizing light?

I’m not saying the world of reproductive medicine is perfect.  I have some bones to pick with things that happen in the world in which work.  And I will cut the producers of this movie and Hollywood some slack and say that if you are going to focus on the very creative aspects of the use of truth to create a dialog (albeit the wrong dialog) then okay maybe this is a documentary.  But it’s a documentary that I refuse to endorse on any level.

Someone can, and should, do a better job at looking at the gifts that third party assisted reproduction are giving to infertile families.

Blech Blech Blech.

Filed under: , , , , , , , , , ,



3 comments   

I have a project and I need your help.

March 25, 2010 | By:

I am finishing up the e-Book on egg donation so it will be ready when the site goes live for my egg donation agency.  However, I have been getting a lot of emails from readers of The Infertility Survival Handbook, thanking me for writing the book (for those of you to whom I have not yet responded, please know how much your emails mean to me and I really, really do appreciate hearing from you).  I believe that nothing is a coincidence (something my BFF and I were arguing about last night, she’s definitely of the mind that I am insane.  LOL!).  And here’s the thing, I’ve got another book drafted, on top of the e-Book series, and it’s called The Stork Lawyer’s Modern Family Building Bible.  But I wonder if it isn’t better just to revise the The Infertility Survival Handbook? I mean, maybe I could it even tie it into my next round (god willing) at trying to add to our family . . . and combine some of what I was going to include in the “Bible” (as we’ve come to call it in the office).  I don’t know what to do.  My hands are full and I have plenty to keep me busy.  Do I start fresh with a new book or do I update and revise a book that so changed my life and seems to have impacted a few others?  Thoughts?

Filed under: ,

Tags: ,



2 comments   

Registration Issues: Registered Users Please Read!

November 6, 2009 | By:

Hey everyone, while I was away, Kristen and Emily were hard at work trying to figure out why we have all these registered users who cannot seem to be able to post.  We had a worm on the site awhile ago and it seems the damage the worm did went a little deeper than we realized.

Anyone who has previously registered to be a user on this blog needs to register again.  As of today, we have only 4 registered users, down from over a hundred.  Please, please, please, take a minute and register again.  I am so sorry for the inconvenience.  But some mean person corrupted my blog.  Once you register again you shouldn’t have any problems.  You may not have even noticed . . . but we noticed and we miss you!

Once again, anyone who has previously a registered user on this blog is no longer registered due to a worm that corrupted the site.  Please re-register and join our discussions!

Thanks!

Liz

Filed under: ,

Tags: ,



Comments are off   
« Next Page
« Previous Page
Home