OPRAH: LESBIAN AND GAY BABY BOOM (TV)
Summary
One in this talk show series hosted by Oprah Winfrey. This episode, the fifth in a twelve-part series on families, focuses on the growing number of homosexual couples with children, and how this affects views of modern family values. Oprah's guests include Jaqué Dupri and Roberta Stokes, a lesbian couple with two children living in New York City, and Ron and John, a gay couple living in Los Angeles awaiting the birth of their daughter via a surrogate mother. Oprah shows clips from a baby shower held in honor of Ron and John's upcoming child, and they explain the reasons they wanted to have a child. Roberta and Jaqué had their children via artificial insemination, and a clip is shown of their home life in New York City. Ron and John, both corporate attorneys, talk about the process behind surrogacy and the steps they're taking to become nurturing parents to their upcoming daughter. Roberta discusses her decision to have children via artificial insemination and about her breakup with her previous partner and how she met and formed a relationship with Jaqué. Jaqué grew up in a series of foster homes, and comments on the importance of having an "anchor" in a child's life in terms of having a set of stable parents. Both of them discuss how they monitor their children's activities and how the lack of a father has affected both them and the people they interact with. A man from the audience offers his own comments: he explains that he was in a heterosexual marriage and had a daughter, but went through a divorce ten years ago and subsequently came out as gay. He stresses that the dissolution of the marriage was unrelated to his homosexuality, and that his daughter and ex-wife have handled the news rather well. Oprah reads from a new study which finds that there is little difference in the psychological development between children of heterosexual parents and those of homosexual parents. Oprah asks the two couples how the other members of their family have reacted to their relationship and their decision to have children. Roberta says that she no longer speaks to one of her parents, as they do not approve of her lifestyle, but the other members of her family are more supportive. John talks about how his siblings are supportive of him, but his parents are not due to religious reasons. For years, Ron and John's relationship was "tacitly implicit" but not discussed openly amongst their families. Oprah reads excerpts from a letter John wrote to his parents asking them for understanding and empathy. He is still uncomfortable discussing the situation with them, whereas Ron's family is largely supportive of him and John. Dr. April Martin, psychologist and author of "The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook," joins the discussion. She remarks that gay and lesbian couples often put a great deal of planning into their decisions to have children, and she believes that this is done to a greater extent than heterosexual couples. Several members of the studio audience voice their opinions on the subject of homosexual couples and the possibility of them raising children. Some are vehemently opposed to the idea, feeling that children of such couples would invariably grow up to be homosexual themselves, or that a boy raised by two women will lack masculine attributes and vice-versa; they also criticize several of the onstage couples' decisions. Others counter that such intolerance creates a social environment which is harmful to the children, and the couples defend their choices and their approach to raising their children. Oprah introduces Pamela Jackson and Rusty Millington, a lesbian couple profiled in the 1977 documentary "Word is Out," and four of their children. Pamela and Rusty were each in heterosexual relationships, but left them and combined families for the sake of their children; a relationship with each other followed soon thereafter. They discuss what it was like growing up in the 1970's and the reasons why they made their family arrangement. The children have no complaints about the way they were raised, saying it was done "openly and honestly." Oprah and Dr. Martin talk about misconceptions that many people have about homosexual couples with children, and about how children tend to react to the idea of their parents' homosexuality. Oprah speaks with Roberta and Jaqué's children, as well as the children of another lesbian mother who call their mother a "regular person" and note that their mother's new partner takes much better care of them than their biological father. The episode ends as Oprah speaks via satellite to Ron and John, having just returned with their new baby. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Syndicated
- DATE: November 30, 1992
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:40
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:34165
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Talk/Interviews
- SERIES RUN: Syndicated - TV series, 1986-2011
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Debra DiMaio … Executive Producer
- Mary Kay Clinton … Senior Producer, Producer
- Alice McGee … Senior Producer
- Ellen Rakieten … Senior Producer
- Dianne Atkinson Hudson … Supervising Producer
- Oprah Winfrey … Supervising Producer
- Katy Murphy Davis … Producer
- LeGrande Green … Producer
- Rudy Guido … Producer
- Dana Newton … Producer
- Kevin Borenstein … Associate Producer
- Dana Conroy … Associate Producer
- Faith Raegan Harris … Associate Producer
- Jorge Insua … Associate Producer
- James Kelley … Associate Producer
- Lesia Minor … Associate Producer
- Joan Roebuck … Associate Producer
- Jamie Schaefer … Associate Producer
- Earnest Winborne … Associate Producer
- Joey Ford … Director
- Oprah Winfrey … Host
- Roberta Stokes (audio id only) … Guest
- Jaqué Dupri (audio id only) … Guest
- April Martin … Guest
- Pamela Jackson … Guest
- Rusty Millington … Guest