Taglines: Every life is beautiful.
Hannah is a 19-year-old college freshman who suffers from epilepsy, asthma and depression. On the verge of her theatrical debut in a university play, she collapses on stage. Hannah meets with her parents and a doctor, who quotes passages from her journal that she has been feeling lost and unwanted. She learns that she is adopted and her biological mother tried to abort her.
Hannah seeks out her best friend, Jason, for advice. After sorting through her feelings and her options with Jason, she decides to find her birth mother. Jason invites her to go on a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana with a group of his friends for spring break. Hannah’s father, Jacob Lawson, is reluctant to let her go, because of her illness.
Hannah decides to go because she says she wants answers. She sets out on a journey that leads her to her birthplace, Mobile, Alabama. Jason helps her find the hospital where she was born, but it is vacant and locked up. Hannah pries the back door open and they are arrested. The sheriff lets them go when she tells him her reason for trying to get in.
He gives her the name and address of the nurse who signed her birth certificate. She locates the nurse, who assisted in the abortion, and they have an emotional encounter while the nurse describes the circumstances behind not only her birth, but that of her twin brother, whom Hannah knew nothing about. She leaves the nurse’s apartment with the changed name and workplace of her birth mother.
When she finally meets her biological mother, she is overwhelmed by anger and hatred because of her mother’s rejection. Her father arrives to take her home, having found out she lied to him about being with others beside Jason, and about checking in with her doctor. He discovers their arrest for breaking and entering and tells Jason he is not permitted to interact with Hannah. Jason returns to the hotel where his friends are staying. He breaks up with his girlfriend, Alanna, and returns home. He phones Hannah’s father and apologizes for lying.
Hannah’s adoptive parents go through their own pain and suffering, deciding to tell Hannah the details of their choice to adopt both her and her brother, who died months later. Her adoptive mother had been pregnant with twins and lost them at 24 weeks. They saw an adoption request for Hannah and her brother at a crisis pregnancy center where she had volunteered.
October Baby is a 2011 American Christian-themed drama film directed by Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin and starring Rachel Hendrix in her film debut. It is the story of a woman named Hannah, who learns as a young adult that she survived a failed abortion attempt. She then embarks upon a road trip to understand the circumstances of her birth. October Baby was inspired by a YouTube video chronicling the life experiences of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen.
October Baby (2012)
Directed by: Andrew Erwin, Jon Erwin
Starring: Rachel Hendrix, Jason Burkey, John Schneider, Jennifer Price, Colleen Trusler, James Austin Johnson, Amisho Lewis, Mary Tolley, Corey Winston, Joy Brunson, Robert Amaya
Screenplay by: Jon Erwin, Theresa Preston
Production Design by: Edward Gurney Jr.
Cinematography by: Jon Erwin
Film Editing by: Andrew Erwin
Costume Design by: Anna Redmon
Set Decoration by: Chelsea Reynolds
Art Direction by: Edward Gurney Jr.
Music by: Paul Mills
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material.
Distributed by: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Date: October 28, 2012
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