In 2001, Lakshmi Iyer and her husband, Narayanan, left their home in Chennai, India, for the United States. Both landed good IT jobs, and they got right to work on starting a family. Years went by, and nothing. Nothing. By 2009, they turned to adoption, but as Green Card holders, they faced very low odds of actually adopting a child, though it wasn’t impossible. Then a match finally came through for the Iyers: twin baby girls, Anjali (Anjali Iyer) and Meghna (Cecilia Iyer). The girls are white. Lakshmi and Narayanan never pictured themselves raising white twins, but they weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The adoption came with conditions, as the birth mother, Katherine Faye, insisted on an open adoption. She gave up the girls for financial reasons, since she could barely afford her own expenses, let alone the twins’. But she still wanted to be in their lives somehow. Lakshmi went above and beyond by creating a private blog for Katherine, complete with photos and videos, so she could watch from a distance. Then, in 2014, something else seemingly impossible happened: Lakshmi became pregnant.
Love Chaos Kin follows the twins as they turn into tweens and are raised within the Indian culture of the Iyers. They still live in the U.S. at the time of filming. At one point, Katherine stays with the Iyers after being evicted from her sister’s home because her partner forgot to pay the rent. Katherine wants to go to school, but the bills keep stacking up, and Lakshmi becomes her final chance.
The adopted twins share a whispered secret while dressed in traditional Indian clothing in Love Chaos Kin.
“The adoption came with conditions, as the birth mother, Katherine Faye, insisted on an open adoption.”
If you want proof that families come in all shapes and sizes, look no further than the Iyers in Chithra Jeyaram’s documentary. Lakshmi may not look like Anjali and Meghna, but there’s no doubt she loves them like a mother. Father Narayanan is a character unto himself. He loves the girls, but he loves work just as much and leaves the heavy lifting of parenting to Lakshmi.
The film has no reality-show hyper-drama forced in. It shines a light on where different cultures intersect. We observe the twins learning about Indian culture and religion. Lakshmi finds a way of blending Christianity into the story. The girls take a trip to Chennai, India, their parents’ hometown, and Lakshmi also takes them, ironically, to a Navajo reservation to learn about their biological father’s background. Lakshmi also shows a bit of tough love when dealing with Katherine’s financial situation.
As the family matriarch, Lakshmi is the star of Love Chaos Kin. She is full of wisdom about raising children, teaching them for today, and preparing them for the future. Documentarian Jeyaram refuses to paint Lakshmi as a hero to her family. Lakshmi’s actions in front of the camera already do that. In the end, Love Chaos Kin is a loving and heartfelt portrait of a truly unique family.
For screening information, visit the Love Chaos Kin official website.
"…Lakshmi and Narayanan never pictured themselves raising white twins..."
