Tonight was documentary night in our house. Emily got to pick the films and so there's no surprise that one of them was about children - an absolute passion of hers.
This film follows a woman and the eleven (that is not a typo) special needs children that she has adopted. Some are worse off than others - and they range from a child with cystic fibrosis (as well as some emotional and anger issues) to children with other life threatening illnesses, and to others that have just been dealt a poor hand - two sisters born without legs, and a little girl who was in a terrible fire when she was a baby (pictured above to the right). There are others I'm missing - they are no less memorable.
The only help that the women who has adopted the children has is another adopted daughter who is college aged. She appears to have no special needs outside of just being frustrated and not feeling like she has anyone to talk to (a scene that particularly frustrated me in how poorly, I thought, that the adoptive mother handled it). A netflix reviewer called it 'heartwarming'. I don't know if I agree - it wasn't a super depressing film, but I also just got the sense that these people would keep moving forward because, simply, there was no other option.
It's sad that we live in a world where the Jon & Kates can get rich off of taking fertility drugs and having a massive family, where a woman like this, taking on children that no one else wants, struggles to get by. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't want these people exploited, but if there's a group of kids that should benefit from the curiosity of the viewing public it should be kids like these.
A pretty decent documentary that felt like an honest look into a unique family.
My Flesh and Blood
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