More than 20 years ago, Kate Stapleton stood on the shores of Lake Michigan and made the heart-wrenching decision to place her daughter for adoption.
What happened afterward is captured in the new documentary “The Inner Sea” — a film Kate believes may be the first directed by and created from the perspective of a birth mother. Gorgeous nature cinematography and haunting music perfectly frame this story of surrender and love.
As her baby grew inside her, Kate dusted off her old harp, held the stringed instrument close to them both and began to play to her child. Today, she and her husband, Casey, are a harp- and guitar-playing, Pittsburgh-based duo who perform and travel with their six kids in a converted school bus.
It was Casey, who also is a Catholic high school teacher, who first encouraged Kate to share her story. Through their music, they connected with cinematographer Martin Jernberg, who shot the film. Ben Kruis edited the documentary, and Casey scored the film. “We had incredibly talented people show up at the exact right moments to make it happen,” said Kate.
The documentary weaves together the story of Kate’s life and the life of her now-grown daughter, Brigid. Kate rides through countrysides in their blue bus filled with kids, she plucks her harp with metallic blue fingernails, and she shares how she coped with the joy and sorrow of watching her daughter grow up from afar. Brigid is seen singing at the orange grove near her childhood home, playing with her siblings, and rereading letters from Kate with her mother, Michelle.
Toward the end of the film, Kate, Casey, Brigid and her band, Acaciawood, all take the stage together. “Music and art have been so key to my own healing and processing … so I knew that was going to have to be really important (in the film),” said Kate.
Though an innately faith-filled and pro-life story, Kate leads the viewer gently to her message.
“I knew that I wanted to create a movie that totally showed the way God worked in my life and that was able to get that story across to audiences that were pro-life, but also that were hardened to that message,” she told OSV News. “I think music and beauty transcend those boundaries and allow grace to soak into souls, so I wanted to lead with beauty.”
Kate hopes the film softens the hearts of those who call themselves “pro-choice” but also that it opens the eyes of pro-lifers to the lack of support for birth mothers.
“Right now, as far as I know, there is nothing offered to women who place children for adoption,” she said, beyond any support the adoption agencies themselves might provide.
Meanwhile, there’s widespread help for post-abortive women, she said, because the difficulties that arise after an abortion are numerous and well-documented.
With birth mothers, the impact hasn’t even been studied, said Kate. “I kind of always wished someone would show up and do something about it, and I guess I’m going to have to,” she said.
After two and half years working on the project, “The Inner Sea” premiered this year at Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, and won laurels at the Door County Film Fest, the Buffalo Roots Film Festival in Rome and the Houston International Film Festival.
The Stapletons are now working to bring the film to colleges, churches and other venues nationwide. “Inner sea” of the title refers to the Great Lakes where Kate spent much of her pregnancy, but also to the inner sea of the womb — the start of her story and of every human being.
When Brigid looks over her life, she sees all the goodness within it.
“I want people to see the transformation that can happen when you genuinely surrender something to God. And that’s what Kate did,” she said. “Nobody knew that this situation was going to turn out this way. That was the key — total reliance that something good was going to happen.”
The film ends with a sweeping view of Kate and Brigid walking along the water’s edge, side by side. “Love will always break your heart,” said Kate. “Do it anyway.”
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