Episode 13 - The Mom Who Fathered Her Own Children Plus: the Emmy Award Winning Cast of Modern Family

The Mom Who Fathered Her Own Children

Recap
We start with seeing a lesbian couple, Christine and Lisa, who are playing with their young twins, a little boy and little girl. They met online and clicked right away. They moved in together and within a year tried to get pregnant. The first two times failed, but the third time was successful, and last spring Eden and Lucas were born. Oprah drops the bombshell that Christine fathered the children. 

We learn that 10 years ago Christine was Chris, and at age 30 he realized he was transgender and chose to have a sex-change operation. He chose to freeze his sperm because he always wanted to eventually have kids. He was able to simulate pregnancy with hormones, and after the twins were born he could even breastfeed. Christine talks about the joy and relief of finally realizing she was transgender, since as a man she was very masculine, in terms of dating women, being in the Navy, a "frat boy", etc. She says it was very scary to make the transition but basically the best decision she ever made. Christine still liked girls, but felt that she was a woman, so she chose to become a female. After dating men and women post-sex change, she realized it was totally comfortable to her to be a lesbian.


Christine didn't tell Lisa that she had been a man right away, but once they started dating and really liked one another, she did tell Lisa. Lisa says that it only made her want to get to know Christine even better and that it didn't negatively affect her opinion of Christine at all. Christine's parents say that they felt that Christine was still their child, still the same heart and soul, and it didn't change their opinion of her. Lisa says her mother is completely accepting of Christine, whereas her father, while he loves Christine, is one whom she has to agree to disagree with. Lisa says that he has a certain philosophy that he'll never change; she says she doesn't need his approval, she just needs his love.


Christine says later that when she was dating both men and women she stopped looking at gender and focused on who the person was, that their gender didn't matter. She and Lisa are here on the Oprah show to help America see that their just like any other family. And speaking of "modern" families...


Modern Family

Recap
As Oprah says, this show profoundly makes the point that we're all more alike than we are different, ranging across sexual preference, gender, races, etc. We get to see the cast be super excited and proud of their funny show. The segment is filled with laughs and it seems pretty clear that the cast actually loves and enjoys one another. The show is very funny and you can see why--the cast just plays off of one another so well. And, in case anyone doesn't know this, Eric Stonestreet, who plays the gay character Cam, is straight in real life and jokes about being "openly straight".

Ali Wentworth, a correspondent for Oprah's show, goes around behind the scenes with the cast. We see the crazy huge closet, joking between characters, more footage of the super adorable twins who play Lily, and the actor who plays Luke cracking a joke about whether Ali, who looks to be in her 40s, is "interested" in him when she asks if any of the kids are dating.

When we come back, one of the writers says that they steal liberally from their wives and children, and that they roll that into the characters they have created and the talents of the actors. Oprah says that she noticed that there are no Black friends on the show, and she's willing to move into the neighborhood and drop in to see what's cooking in the Dunphy household.

At the very end of the show, we get to see a short clip of a couple from 1995 who decided to adopt a set of twins from India. Oprah tricked them by having the brother of the wife pretend to be in India with the babies and the feed cut out... but, alas, he was actually backstage! It was pretty sweet and precious to see the mom crying and them meeting their babies for first time. We see the twins, who are now almost 16, and hear that the extended family includes four adopted African American cousins and a child adopted from Korea. Oprah celebrates this other "modern" family and we're out!

Gospel Filter Review

Though the Modern Family bit was fun, and there were themes I could look at redeeming, I think the place to set up camp is the first half of the show, regarding themes of homosexuality and transgender people (though Modern Family does prominently feature a gay company). These topics are always difficult for me. I have to pray, pray, and pray some more that the Holy Spirit helps me to accurately portray God's heart through the truth of the Scriptures. The moment you say it's sin to do / be something, particularly regarding homosexuality and transgender issues, in America people are quick to say that you are filled with hate. I am not filled with hate toward Lisa and Christine. Additionally, I just saw a series of tweets yesterday about a 13-year-old boy who was bullied repeatedly for being gay and so he hanged himself and died. My heart grieves for his suffering, for his parents' suffering at the painful life and now loss of their son, for the sin committed by the bullies, and for all who knew and loved this boy and now he is dead. Similarly I am sad for Christine that she struggled so much with herself and that it was so painful for her to struggle with who she was as a person. 

When I initially wrote about homosexuality earlier this season, I hope it was very clear that the ultimate issue is that a person meets Jesus, receives salvation, and then any changes to their life as a result of repenting of sin comes out of worshiping Him. The goal is not to make someone stop being gay, nor to make someone stop being transgender, so that then they'll accept Jesus. The Bible deals with a similar issue when Paul and Barnabas have to deal with the sinful and wrong teaching  a group called the Judaizers in Acts 15. They taught that anyone who wanted to receive Jesus and become a Christian must first, if they were a Gentile, become circumsised and essentially become a Jew; only after that could they then become a Christian. Many who had become Christians, primarily Jews who had converted, were believing this teaching. Acts 15 says that the apostles (so, Jesus' 12 disciples, minus Judas Iscariot) were gathered to try and decide if this was something Jesus taught. Paul declares to them that God cleanses the hearts of all who become Christians by faith, and that it is only grace that will save anyone. Only faith and grace--not cleaning ourselves up and stopping a sinful act, but Jesus saving us and bringing our lives into alignment with Him as He wills once He is our Lord.

So, then, the primary concern is not that Lisa is a lesbian and that Christine is a man. The goal is not for Lisa to start liking men and for Christine to reverse the sex change. The goal is that they would know that Jesus Christ loves them, died for all of their sin, not just those relating to sexual preference, identity, and gender choice, and that He wants to restore them to relationship with the Father through forgiveness of sin if they will receive His free gift of grace. That's the goal.

That said, the Bible is very clear that God makes people male and female (Genesis 1:27) and that He doesn't make mistakes in someone's gender because He knits us together in our mother's womb according to His will and however He chooses to make us, including our gender, is wonderful and should be regarded with reverent awe concerning His decision for us (Psalm 139:13&14). A combination of our own sinful hearts that hate the things of God (Jeremiah 17:9) and enemy of God, Satan, seeking to convince humanity of lies about who we are and what is good and acceptable before God (John 8:44) make a lethal duo in which a person chooses to believe that they were made gay, or that they are a woman trapped in a man's body, etc.  

So, ultimately I pray for Lisa and Christine, and all gay and transgender people, plus those who are straight but believe that to be gay and transgender is right and good and should be absolutely accepted. I pray that they would know God loves them, and wants their hearts. I pray that Christians would reflect Jesus, be honest about the truth of His word, calling sin for what it is--sin--but always caring more about the person Jesus died for than trying to hunt out their sin and make them change. Ultimately, I pray that anyone reading this would see God's heart accurately reflected, that this would represent the truth of His character according to His Word. I pray those who don't know Christ would hear truth in love and that Christians would repent if they have been trying to be God and focusing on people's sin more than the fact that they need Jesus.


Up Tomorrow
Aging beauties Cybill Shepher, Linda Evans, and Teri Hatcher