快猫短视频

Jeremy Herch

THE Surrogate is billed as being about a moral dilemma, so I assumed that the film would address some of the complex ethical questions surrounding surrogate pregnancies, when someone deliberately conceives in order to give the baby away.

For example, if the surrogate is paid a fee, some feel that the arrangement can seem exploitative, and even when people do it for altruistic reasons, problems can arise if participants change their minds halfway.

The film touches on these questions, but the issue under the microscope here is a broader one. What happens if a prenatal test reveals that a fetus has a medical condition, and the parents can鈥檛 agree on what happens next?

The Surrogate spans a few weeks in the lives of Jess, a web designer, her best friend Josh and his husband Aaron, as Jess carries a baby for the two men.

At first, all goes well, and Jess is almost annoyingly upbeat as she explains the unusual situation to her concerned family and sometimes to random strangers. In one scene, she tells a waitress: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the new parents. I鈥檓 just the vessel.鈥�

Then a prenatal test reveals that the fetus has Down鈥檚 syndrome. As the three main characters agonise over whether to continue the pregnancy, cracks emerge in their once united front. To prepare, Jess is keen to get to know families with children with Down鈥檚 syndrome; the two prospective fathers not so much.

The children with Down鈥檚 syndrome we meet are adorable, but their parents warn about the hurdles ahead.

Jess gets to know one happy family, but the mother says: 鈥淚 underestimated how much time I would spend on the phone fighting bureaucrats.鈥� The father is just tired. They send their child to an expensive private school and it seems clear that bringing up a child with Down鈥檚 syndrome is easier if you are cushioned by wealth.

Although the subject matter is fascinating, the main reason for watching this film is that it is superbly written and acted, especially by Jasmine Batchelor, who plays Jess. Every line of dialogue, every facial expression, is pitch perfect 鈥� from the trio鈥檚 joy at the result of the pregnancy test, through their stunned silence on the diagnosis, to the tears as their relationship is strained.

Your opinions on Jess, Josh and Aaron may well be influenced by your views on abortion. At one point in the film, we are invited to judge the two men negatively for their unwillingness to bring up a child with Down鈥檚 syndrome. But as Josh complains, the majority of straight couples choose to end such a pregnancy, so why should gay men be held to different standards?

鈥淎s the three main characters agonise over whether to continue the pregnancy, cracks emerge鈥�

The issues aren鈥檛 black or white, and nor are the characters. Many people with Down鈥檚 syndrome live happy, fulfilling lives, but Josh, it turns out, has his reasons for being less optimistic about the future. As a consequence, he points out that Down鈥檚 syndrome spans a range of abilities, and the people who get media attention for their accomplishments are likely to be at one end of the spectrum.

As the rows between Jess and her friends escalate, they cut to the heart of the growing debate over the ethics of prenatal testing. Politicians in Northern Ireland and some US states are trying to , and disability rights groups have tried to prevent the introduction of early prenatal testing for the condition.

But the arguments of the trio, while they are fascinating, never feel like sermonising or forced exposition 鈥� they come across as the genuine reactions of real people caught in a difficult situation.

The film may be hard to watch if you have a personal stake in the question, or, conversely, it could feel like essential viewing.