My name is Nina Davenport. I have been making feature-length documentary films since graduating from Harvard College in 1990. As a filmmaker living in Brooklyn, New York, I have explored all kinds of life events and stages. Yet I reached a point that I desired and craved to be a mother. I turned the camera onto myself for my film, First Comes Love, as I confront my rapidly diminishing fertility and ovarian reserve when I was childless at 41. Camera in hand, I explored the topic of becoming a parent and embarked on the in-vitro highway fast track to motherhood.
I know so many women who have gone through the same trauma that I have gone through, feeling as though they’re running out of time to have a baby, trying to find the right relationship but can’t, and they’re freaking out. Once I decided that okay, no more waiting and decided to travel the road to motherhood, a huge burden was lifted.
Our culture makes women feel ashamed about our bodies, so part of it is to say, okay, I don’t care. I’m not ashamed. And also I prioritize art over my own vanity. I actually found that seeing my father as a character in the film … helped me be more forgiving. It’s amazing how distancing myself as I need to do in the editing room made me have more compassion for him. You can learn more of my journey by watching my film on HBO, Netflix, and YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvunEkOGJfc
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