The Surrogate

The Surrogate is a 1995 television film drama directed by Jan Egleson and Raymond Hartung and aired on ABC. The film had a limited VHS release in the United Kingdom in April 1996. It has also been released on video in Asia. The film centers around the young and talented student Amy (Alyssa Milano), who replies on an innocent advertisement for a rental place. Here, she meets Stuart (David Dukes) and Joan Quinn (Connie Sellecca). After she rents the place, she creates a good relationship with the family. After a lot of hesitation, the family asks her to be the surrogate mother of their child, since Joan can't have babies herself anymore. Amy thinks about it and agrees. When Amy discovers that the family hides a dark secret about the death of an earlier baby, Amy is determined not to give her child up and flees. Soon, the police are looking for her, because she officially kidnapped her own baby. Plot Amy Winslow (Alyssa Milano) is an art student majoring in painting, who is all by her own. Her mother died when she was a child and her father is not around. As a student she has financial problems, so she is surprised when the couple Joan and Stuart Quinn (Connie Sellecca and David Dukes) decide to take her in their house for a small amount of rent. Little does Amy know that Joan is following her every step through secret cameras, and that she has a hidden agenda for her. Initially, Amy is very content living with the Quinns, believing that she has found the family she has never had. When she loses the university's financial aide through an administration error, Joan immediately steps in to take care of her. They both drink a large amount of wine, and then Joan announces that because she is infertile, they are looking for a surrogate mother. She then tells Amy that they feel that she is the perfect candidate. Amy is flattered, and next day discusses the situation with her friendly teacher Eric Shaw (Vincent Ventresca). She then agrees when the Quinns propose to pay for her college fees if she helps them out. When Amy is a few months pregnant, Joan starts to show strange behavior. Amy feels smothered by Joan's overbearing attitude, feeling that she is being treated like a ten-year-old child. Her oil painting being taken away, Amy looks for it in the basement, only to find old baby clothes. Joan catches her, and becomes furious, scaring Amy away. She later tries to explain the situation by saying that she was pregnant four years ago, though had a miscarriage.