An elderly couple, Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) and Abby (Marian Seldes) sit in a cinema watching a lesbian-themed film The Children's Hour.

A couple walks out of the theater in disgust at the film, and a group of kids laugh when they see Edith and Abby holding hands.

Edith telephones Abby's nephew, Ted (Paul Giamatti), her only living relative, to tell him the news.

The family leaves, with Ted telling Edith that he will be in touch in a couple of weeks to discuss what she is going to do.

They face conflict with the feminist group they are part of when the other women do not want to include lesbian issues despite the fact that Linda and her friends helped to found the group and fought for free contraception on campus with their straight friends.

At a lesbian bar they have not been to before, they are surprised and disappointed to see women apparently fulfilling traditional butch and femme roles.

The house is now inhabited by Fran (Sharon Stone) and Kal (Ellen DeGeneres), a couple hoping to have a baby together.

They hope to get a sperm donation from Tom (George Newbern) and Arnold (Mitchell Anderson), a gay couple, but when the men are reluctant to agree to stay out of the baby's life, the women decide not to go ahead.

Later, Kal tells Fran that she does not want to know the father of the baby and they agree to use an anonymous donor.

Fran and Kal know that their baby will face discrimination because of society's views on lesbian families, but hope that their love for each other and their child will be enough.