One trans man’s pioneering quest to fulfil an age-old desire: to start his own family. The is the story of the dad who gave birth.

Freddy is 30 and yearns to start a family but for him this ordinary desire comes with unique challenges. He is a gay transgender man.

Deciding to carry his own baby took years of soul searching, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of pregnancy, as both a physical experience and one that challenges society's fundamental understanding of gender, parenthood and family. He quickly realises that what to him feels pragmatic, to others feels deeply confusing and confronting; this was not part of his plan.

Against a backdrop of increasing hostility towards trans people the world over, Freddy is forced to confront his own naivety, mine unknown depths of courage and lean on every friend and family member who will stand by him.

Made with unprecedented access and collaboration over three years, the film follows Freddy from preparing to conceive right through to birth. It is an intimate, audacious and lyrical story for the cinema about conception, pregnancy, birth and what makes us who we are.

SEAHORSE is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jeanie Finlay (GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH; ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING) and produced by Andrea Cornwell (SAINT MAUD; APOSTASY), Jeanie Finlay and Oscar-winning Grain Media (THE WHITE HELMETS; VIRUNGA).

**Freddy talks to Simon Hattenstone in The Guardian about making “Seahorse” and his journey to parenthood.**

Watch

World Premiere: Documentary Competition - Tribeca Film Festival

International Premiere - Hotdocs

European Premiere - Sheffield Doc Fest

2019. 89 Mins. Documentary
BBC presents a Grain Media production in association with Glimmer Films and The Guardian

BIFA NOMINATED: BEST DOCUMENTARY
CINEMA EYE HONOURS AWARD WINNER: Freddy McConnell is an “UNFORGETTABLE”
“An engaging, empathetic and affecting film from master-documentarian Jeanie Finlay”
TOP 5 FILMS TO SEE IN CINEMAS THIS WEEK - MARK KERMODE
““Intimate and miraculous … one of the year’s most astonishing cinematic moments”
REVERSE SHOT
★★★★ THE GUARDIAN
”A tender – and rather wonderful – documentary about love, family, raging hormones and the complexities of identity.”
★★★★ LITTLE WHITE LIES
”A fascinating, vital story told with heart and tenderness”
★★★★ FINANCIAL TIMES
”An astonishing, unmissable story”
“One of the most moving things I have ever witnessed. I am forever changed.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
“(Extra) ordinary”
TRE’VELL ANDERSON - OUT.COM
“Pushes at all assumptions about family, love, and the body. You will cry!”
JENNIE LIVINGSTONE – Director of Paris is Burning
Top 5 documentaries at Tribeca
“Teaches us profound truths about sex, gender identity, empathy and love”
HAMMER TO NAIL
“A sensitive and finely-tuned portrayal that challenges traditional notions of fatherhood and masculinity” INDIEWIRE