Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993 TAG: 9305080385
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKIE HYMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I thought it was the most remarkable thing," the actress said, sitting in her living room near a playpen full of toys. "It's a story of faith, of what the human spirit can do."
A few months later, Jillian - resigned to childlessness after 15 years of marriage - unexpectedly became pregnant.
Now the delighted mother of a 16-month-old son, she is portraying that grandmother in "Labor of Love: The Arlette Schweitzer Story," a CBS movie being shown Sunday (at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7).
The movie costars Tracey Gold as the daughter born without a uterus, and also features Bill Smitrovich, Donal Logue, Diana Scarwid and Frances Sternhagen.
Arlette Schweitzer herself makes an early cameo appearance, as a coworker of the movie's star.
"All the daughter ever wanted was to be a mom," Jillian said. "She planned it from the time she was little, and when the time came, it was a disaster that she didn't have a place in her body to hold a baby."
Schweitzer risked her health to become impregnated with two eggs from her daughter - fertilized in vitro by her son-in-law's sperm - and gave birth to twins.
"This particular role has parallels for me," said Jillian. "Both of us were 42 when we gave birth, both of us Roman Catholic, both C-sections, both the same kind of outlook [on life]. It gave me a chill when I read the script. It was so ironic that it would come to me."
Also, she said, "There was pain involved for both."
She cited concerns about medical complications and of stirring painful memories for Schweitzer, who years earlier had lost a son to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
There was another irony in the casting. In 1987, Jillian played herself in the top-rated TV-movie "The Ann Jillian Story," about her personal experience undergoing a double mastectomy and surviving breast cancer.
Initially, she had intended to give the leading role to another actress, and the person she had in mind was Scarwid.
When Jillian arrived on location in North Carolina to film "Labor of Love" and scanned the cast list, there was Scarwid portraying her sister.
"There was such a strong empathy there between the two of us," she said. "I'm happy to say that she's a new friend."
The actress noted that she supports Schweitzer's actions, although some viewers may question the choice of becoming a surrogate mother even for love.
"We're both Roman Catholics, so we had questions of faith, and I'm happy to say the church did support her," Jillian said. "As far as I can see, every child comes from God. It's a miracle. For us, with our finite minds, to question such a miraculous result is not something I'm going to tackle. These wonderful new treatments and these wonderful technologies, God would not have put that into someone's brain to do if it could not be used for good.."
Becoming a parent, Jillian said, has made her sensitive to the sometimes exploitive nature of movies and television.
"Now, being a mother, I see this so much more clearly," she said. "I say, `There are limits.' Good taste and your own self-decency will provide the limits. If we dig down inside ourselves, we know what's going too far."
Of her son, she said, "I take a look at those innocent eyes and I say, `No one has the right to take that away.' My wish is that every child out there will grow up with a time of pure innocence, when they will not be hurt and they will not learn to hurt."
by CNB