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Fothermather

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BBC Radio 4 - Fothermather

Poet Gail McConnell explores what it means to be a parent in a same-sex relationship.

Belfast poet Gail McConnell explores what it means to be a non-biological parent in a same-sex relationship.

When Belfast poet Gail McConnell's son was growing in her partner's womb, Gail was writing poems exploring what it means to be a non-biological parent in a same-sex relationship.  Gail's poem 'Untitled/Villanelle' lets go of the binaries of motherhood and fatherhood and imagines these roles in more fluid terms as a parent with a bit of both...a Fothermather.  We meet Gail, her partner Beth and their son Finn as Gail tries to find language for a family structure we don't have words for yet.

Producer: Conor Garrett

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