One trans man’s pioneering quest to fulfill an age-old desire: to start his own family.
A film by JEANIE FINLAY
Produced by ANDREA CORNWELL & JEANIE FINLAY
Executive Produced by ORLANDO VON EINSIEDEL, CHARLIE PHILLIPS, PATRICK VERNON
Freddy is 30 and yearns to start a family but for him this ordinary desire comes with unique challenges. He is a gay
transgender man. Deciding to carry his own baby took years of soul searching, but nothing could prepare him for the
reality of pregnancy, as both a physical experience and one that challenges society’s fundamental understanding of
gender, parenthood and family. He quickly realises that what to him feels pragmatic, to others feels deeply confusing
and confronting; this was not part of his plan. Against a backdrop of increasing hostility towards trans people the
world over, Freddy is forced to confront his own naivety, mine unknown depths of courage and lean on every friend
and family member who will stand by him.
Made with unprecedented access and collaboration over three years, the film follows Freddy from preparing to
conceive right through to birth. It is an intimate, audacious and lyrical story for the cinema about conception,
pregnancy, birth and what makes us who we are.
SEAHORSE: THE DAD WHO GAVE BIRTH is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jeanie Finlay (GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH; ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING) and produced by Andrea Cornwell (SAINT MAUD; APOSTASY), Jeanie Finlay and Oscar-winning Grain Media (THE WHITE HELMETS; VIRUNGA). A Grain Media Production for BBC Storyville In association with Glimmer Films and The Guardian. Developed with support from the Wellcome Trust.
This screening is hosted in collaboration with The European Social Research Council’s annual Festival of Social Science.
REVIEWS
“An engaging, empathetic and affecting film from master-documentarian Jeanie Finlay”
Mark Kermode
“He’s one of us and one of a kind”
★★★★
The Guardian
Top 20 audience favourite – HOTDOCS
Documentary Competition – Tribeca
Nominated for the Youth Jury – Sheffield Doc Fest
Following the screening there will be an audience Q&A discussion hosted by Birds’ Eye View Director-At-Large (and Oscar-winning producer), Mia Bays, with SEAHORSE protagonist, Freddy McConnell and academic Katie Mcbride from the University of Plymouth.
