Family experiences with the media
In the leadup to the release of the Victorian Law Reform Commission Report in June 2007, same-sex parented families received lots of media attention.
This included coverage of several same-sex parented families in The Age newpaper. Sacha Petersen, Anna Russell and 17 month old Mabel were featured in Insight (March 11), along with Robyn Hamilton, Helen Grutzner and four year old Harper, and Sarah and Felicity Marlowe with twins Callum and Rafi.
Another article on surrogacy (April 11) included a photo and interview with Jeff and Rodney Chiang-Cruise and their three-month-old son Ethan. The third article in the series (April 3) was on the posthumous use of gametes. There was also an Age editorial entitled ‘Making babies: it’s not child’s play’, in which the editor calls for the Victorian government to ‘take a stance’ on surrogacy. In the most supportive editorial yet, they also stated that ‘the Government should explain why fertility treatment for fertile single women and lesbians should not be available’ and that the current laws means that Victoria is lagging behind other states.
In the same week, Jason McCheyne and Adrian Tuazon and their son, Ruben, appeared on two TV shows: 9.00 am with David and Kim on Channel 10 about same-sex marriage, and The Catch Up on Channel 9 about alternative families.
Jacqui Tomlins from Rainbow Families Council asked Anna, Jason and Adrian about their experiences of 'doing media' and telling their stories.
Anna, what prompted you to talk to The Age about your family?
Because of the absolute lack of knowledge out there. Sacha and I are often shocked by how little people know. I run a hotel and Sacha is a health professional – a paediatric nurse – and we work with a very broad range of people, and lots of women of child-bearing age who just have no idea what we have to go through to create a family. And we love educating! The more people we can make aware the better.
Did you have any concerns before you decided to talk to The Age?
We did talk about it a lot beforehand. In the back of our minds we thought the donor might make a connection and get in contact. And we hadn’t told Sacha’s work we were trying for number two. But neither of these were issues in the end. Sacha’s work and her boss have been amazingly accepting and there was nothing donor related. There was one interesting thing. We got two calls from people who had been through Albury and thought Mabel might be a sibling. It turns out they’re not, so go figure – Albury must just produce lots of beautiful blonde babies.
What kind or response had you had from people?
We have not had one iota of negative feedback and have had so much support, just an outpouring of support and emotion – it’s been lovely. We looked for letters in The Age the following week, but there was nothing, no negative response at all. It’s been nothing but positive and I think we have had a really good outcome. I’d encourage anyone to do it.
How did you feel opening the paper in the morning?
We actually checked it on the net first and we read it and thought, ‘ah yes that’s lovely…’ and then we picked up the paper and said, ‘ooh goodness, that’s big!’ We were a bit shocked by the size of the photo, but we are extremely open and very proud of who we are, so we really weren’t worried. The phone didn’t stop all day – family and friends calling to say well done and congratulation! We were over the moon. It probably wasn’t until afterwards that we realised it was actually a really big thing.
Jason and Adrian, how did you feel about appearing on TV?
(Adrian) I did have some concerns at first because I wasn’t familiar with the show and it was daytime TV and I wasn’t sure about the audience. I knew they wouldn’t be ABC\SBS type viewers but, in retrospect, it was exactly the right audience. And David and Kim were very supportive which surprised us a bit.
And you, Jason?
I loved it! Everyone was very supportive and the stories they told were affirming and meaningful. The questions they asked were good and I think would break down some of the ignorance out there. On both shows someone told us their brother\cousin was gay!
What kind of feedback did you get?
(Jason) David and Kim ran a poll that came out 75% in favour of gay marriage. They read out some of the worst emails from Christians and laughed at them which was good. We got some great emails afterwards, and a few awful ones from religious people who Googled us and got our address.
Would you do it again?
(Adrian) Yes, depending on the show, but we’re happy for other people to do their bit too!
