Is love enough? / directed by Tom Puchniak and produced by Alan Handel.

Format:

Video

Author/Creator:

Puchniak, Tom, author.

Contributor:

Handel, Alan.

Alexander Street Press.

Series:

Filmakers library online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children of parents with disabilities.

People with mental disabilities.

Genre:

Documentary films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (46 minutes).

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2001.

Language Note:

This edition in English.

System Details:

digital

data file

Summary:

Can a mentally disabled person be a good parent? A few generations ago, many retarded people were locked up in institutions and sterilized to prevent them from having children. Today, people with disabilities are demanding the same rights as everyone else. But the right to bear children remains highly controversial. Can someone who has the mental age of a teenager safely care for a child? Can a child of normal intelligence thrive intellectually when the parents are retarded? Is Love Enough? provides a remarkable window on this unexplored phenomenon in a balanced fashion. One intellectually disabled mother has her child removed at birth. She fought in court for the change to prove that she could be a good mother. Now she is allowed to visit her child and try her mothering skills. But she is under intense scrutiny and feels she is being judged differently than any other parent. Another case involves a young woman entering college to pursue a music career. She has had to overcome a tremendous handicap; both of her parents are intellectually disabled and could not meet her emotional and intellectual needs. With striking candor, she talks about how she had to be rescued by her grandparents and her aunt. She voices strong feelings against people with intellectual disabilities having children.

Notes:

Originally released as DVD.

Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011).

OCLC:

747796685

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.