Num futuro próximo o planeta cai na anarquia total, provocada por um problema generalizado de infertilidade na população. O cidadão mais novo do mundo morre aos 18 anos e a Humanidade enfrenta a probabilidade da sua própria extinção. Numa Londres dividida pela violência de grupos nacionalistas desavindos, o desiludido burocrata Theo torna-se no improvável defensor da sobrevivência do planeta.
Claire e Michael Bartel pensam que encontraram em Peyton Flanders a babysitter perfeita. Elegante, educada e dedicada, toma conta do bebé como se fosse seu e logo conquista o coração da filha mais velha do casal. Mas, com o tempo, ela começa a dar sinais de ser perigosa, o que faz Claire investigar o passado dela, percebendo que a sua família corre perigo de vida.
Em Nova York, um casal adota um menino e com o tempo o pai adotivo (Woody Allen) decide saber quem é a mãe biológica de seu filho. Ele descobre que ela é uma prostituta chamada Linda (Mira Sorvino), que em filmes pornográficos usa o nome Judy Cum e que nem sabe quem é o pai do garoto. O pai adotivo decide então aconselhá-la a abandonar este tipo de vida.
O autor TS Garp (Robin Williams) encara com dificuldade o sucesso da progenitora, Jenny (Glenn Close), famosa ao publicar um livro autobiográfico sobre os problemas enfrentados por ser mãe solteira. A obra se tornou uma espécie de manifesto feminista e ele segue o caminho de luta da matriarca ao tornar-se confidente de um transsexual (John Lithgow).
Sam and Lucie Bell are a married couple who seem to have it all: good looks, successful careers, matching motorbikes, and an enthusiastic love life. The only thing they lack is the one thing they want more—a baby.
Marcelline is an actress. Forty, single and childless, she begins rehearsals for Turgenev’s A Month in the Country. Denis, the director, admires her greatly and promises he’ll make her happy on stage — she will shine. But things don’t go to plan.
A desperate, childless couple kidnap a pregnant woman and lead her husband to believe that she is dead.
Sophie and Otto Bentwood are a middle-aged, middle class, childless Brooklyn Heights couple trapped in a loveless marriage. He is an attorney, she a translator of books. Their existence is affected not only by their disintegrating relationship but by the threats of urban crime and vandalism that surround them everywhere they turn, leaving them feeling paranoid, scared, and desperately helpless.
Walton, the District Attorney, yearns to have children. Soon after defending an author on trial for publishing indecent literature, Walton discovers a secret his wife and her socialite friends have been hiding from him.
A couple inherit a 'house of their dreams' and for a while they think they got lucky, but soon find themselves in the middle of a renovation nightmare.
Unabashed comedian Lynne Koplitz offers a woman's take on being crazy, the benefits of childlessness and the three things all men really want.
Johan and Anna-Karin have been a couple for years but despite many attempts, Anna-Karin doesn't get pregnant. A visit to a fertility clinic shows why: Johan's sperm quality is too low. Johan is waiting to take over his father's farm, but what's the point if they can never have children? The news also puts a strain on their relationship since Anna-Karin desperately wants to be a mother.
Silent Longing is a story about two childless couples who use endless infertility treatments to have a biological child of their own. It is an emotional journey where the idea of a child turns into a silent longing with no certainty of fulfillment.
In this documentary, 6 protagonists tell their personal experiences of abortion and sterilization, from unplanned pregnancy to a happy mother and vice versa from the wanted child to regretting motherhood.