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.
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