An uncomfortable situation becomes an endearing movie. Amelia, played by Sarah Drew, is an Architect and has a nine year old daughter that she had by IVF. She wanted to be a mom, she was getting older and never met the right one. She chose to go ahead and have a child without a partner. She chose the donor father because of a number of factors. IVF Donors usually do not want to be contacted; however, I wonder though, in this day and age, how that is working if they have their DNA available on site?
Ruby, played by Cora Bella, is the nine year old daughter whose teacher has given her students an assignment of creating a family tree. Ruby asks her teacher if she can do another project because her tree, as she explains it, would be more like a weed; she tells her teacher she is the child of an IVF donor.
Ruby, a very precocious child, asks her mom if they can try and contact her donor. Amelia reminds Ruby that he did not want to be contacted. However, a DNA test could reveal the donor if he has done one himself. He did not, but his mother did; therefore, Amelia was able to see who the donor was. She does some research on the family and finds they own a very lucrative business that is within driving distance.
She decides to take a drive out to his family business. There she meets a man who tells her they are closed, but she still takes the chance, gets out of the car and confronts him, not knowing what the reaction will be. Upon hearing he has a daughter, the donor, T.J. Cruz, played by Juan Pableo Di Pace, is surprisingly very interested to meet her. At the time he became a donor, it was a difficult time, he needed to make some money.
After much deliberation, Amelia decides that Ruby can meet her donor father. Amelia tries to forewarn Ruby about not getting too close. I think that conversation went in Ruby’s one ear and out the other!
Ruby and T.J. bond immediately and find that they have a lot in common, and she looks like him too. T.J. is part of a very large Mexican family who are all thrilled to hear that he has a daughter. They invite Amelia and Ruby to the birthday party of her cousin, Mateo, and Amelia decides to accept the invitation.
They arrive at the Birthday party and what a party it was, many people, lots of decorations and delicious food. Not used to being around so many people, Amelia wonders outside of the party tent and takes a brief stroll on the grounds, T.J. follows her. He takes that opportunity to ask her why she used IVF; at that time, Amelia wasn’t ready to tell him. She’s a woman who has done everything on her own and was holding back a big part of herself; opening up is hard for her.
The movie continues with all of their fears and hopes being revealed and sorted through. Wouldn’t we all wonder if the IVF donor we chose would really welcome their biological child into their life?
In this charming story, after some bumps, it works for everyone and has an especially nice ending. It brings two lost hearts together and not just of a daughter and father. “Branching Out”
