My Flesh and Blood (2003)

Susan Tom is a truly amazing person, as are the children in this documentary. Jonathan Karsh is to be commended for directing this documentary.Each child has been through different medical illnesses and disabilities. We see Joe, who goes through attention seeking behavior, and the social worker who attempts to work with him. Also his biological mother, her issues, and her drug addiction. This is only one story of the many. Anthony with his skin disease; Faith with third degree burns. Xenia, a paraplegic, with an amazing spirit, and lust for life.Interesting is the scene where Susan's parents visit, and can only stay for a short time, feeling it is too much to take. They note that Susan used to work in a hospital as an R.N., and was always taking care of others. She is truly a blessed person.It is amazing to see how different people deal with hardship. A film like this forces people to look within, and see their own reactions, analyze how they have treated others. Susan Tom, adoptive mother of these special needs children, is an amazingly strong person who has given these children hope, a home, and love they may never have had. I have never seen such a documentary as this, and hope Jonathan Karsh will produce more of these.9/10.

This film is so painful to watch, but you must. What an indictment of our society and how little we value children. It doesn't take a documentary in a third world country, when there is plenty of horrific child neglect in the richest country in the world. Why should Susan, the heroine of this story, a mother who adopted upwards of 13 significantly sick or disabled children, be such an anomaly? Such a curiosity? Why isn't the system giving her and her children every possible support and resource they need to make their lives livable? I will never be able to shake this story off, nor do I want to. Especially with the epidemic of childhood neuro- and immuno- disorders that have erupted over the last decade or so, thanks to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and the CDC who cavalierly allowed mercury to be used to prolong the shelf life of the multitude of vaccines our children are required to have from their first hour of life.

Anthony lost his battle to cancer. He died last week. The family is very sad, but Anthony was so very, very sick. He is in a better place now and not in so much pain.The film really does show Anthony's true self. He was a sweet, loving kid who never complained. He had a wicked sense of humor and was stoic about his disease. There will be a memorial service in Fairfield sometime in January. Susan and the rest of the kids are doing as well as can be expected. Everyone is just so very sad.As far as the film, I would recommend it to almost anyone, though I think it would be too upsetting for some children. And Susan has lost so much weight since the film was made. Too bad people can't see how great she looks now, and how much more energy she has.

It helps to have such great screen presences. The mother, Susan is a great center for the story and for the audience's benefit. Perhaps with the existing footage shot over the year-and-a-half, there could be a series made out of this. I would like to see more of some of the children who were not featured very much due to reasonable constraints.Woven in inspiring, dramatic, comedic and tragic scenes, this is a powerful piece of film. And you can't help coming out of it full of hope, sadness, and understanding. This movie is a celebration of life at its physical roughest and as deep a love as imaginable.