GROWING UP GAYBY

A documentary about children raised by same-sex parents sparks discussions about the evolving definition of family

- STORY: THANA BOONLERT

'I didn't have a dad as you know. I have this thing called a donor. A donor is when a man donates sperm to a hospital in a little container which they then freeze.

Then, they give it to two women to have a baby. And we did that. And now I am here," said Gus, 10, in Gayby Baby (2015).

Conceived via sperm donation, Gus and his little sister grow up in a lesbian family. In an all-female household, Gus sat transfixed with wrestling on television. He acts out hardcore scenes in a miniature wresting ring. He puts up posters of macho wrestlers on the bedroom wall. His rough and tumble play ends up hurting his sister. His mothers worry that aggressive men are not good role models for their son.

Screened by Thammasat University's College of Innovation and Documentary Club on Feb 28, Gayby Baby is a documentary that follows the lives of four kids of same-sex parents - Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham - who each grapple with transition to adolescence. Ebony struggles to find an LGBTI-friendly school where her lesbian family will be accepted. Matt finds it hard to believe in God who condemns his lesbian mum. Graham and his dads move to Fiji, where homosexuality is disapproved.

Maya Newell, the director of the documentary film, is a gayby, which is a term some use for children with gay or lesbian parents. Her team spent four years making this film and launched it amid debates about marriage equality, which took effect in Australia by the end of 2017. She hopes audiences will be inspired to interrogate what family is, and how and by whom it is defined.

"In this way, Gayby Baby is not an ad for queer families, but a film where loving families struggle with competing needs and values, where parents overreact and sometimes kids get let down.