Anyone who wants to have a baby should have one. Few people, at least rational ones, will argue that. Let’s shift that statement to say ‘everyone, even trans men, should be able to have a baby’. Still on the bandwagon? Whether you are or you aren’t, Seahorse will be a thought-provoking, engrossing experience that might reframe your perspective on gender, parenthood, and binary ways of thinking, and it might do so permanently.
In Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth, documentary filmmaker Jeanie Finlay gets full access to the experience of transgender parental-hopeful Freddie McConnell. Freddie navigates acting on the commitment to have his first child biologically, by preparing his body and mind to allow for pregnancy, and going through what only a transgender man might experience in doing so.
The film allows for a surprisingly powerful character arc, and has the kind of suspenseful moments that will keep the most conflicted viewers in thrall. Seahorse documents a real life, though, and Freddie is going through real challenges. That Finlay is allowed in to film his most private conflicts and thoughts, however dark, is a testament to her trustworthiness as filmmaker.
