Directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, "Losing Isaiah" stars Halle Berry as Khalia Richards, a drug addicted African American who abandons Isaiah, her newborn baby. This baby is adopted by a white social worker, played by Jessica Lange. Years later, Khalia attempts to regain custody of her child. A court case ensues.The situation presented in "Losing Isaiah" is a bit of an anomaly; birth mothers typically only have a 30 day window to reclaim children put up for adoption. In "Losing Isaiah", though, Khalia never consents to have her child adopted, creating a legal loophole.Nevertheless, "Raising Isaiah" does ask somewhat interesting questions: should children like Isaiah be returned to their birth mothers, or should they be left with middle-class white mothers? What is in the child's best interest? What are the racial implications of these matters? What is legal? What is moral? "Losing Isaiah" is too superficial to meaningfully wrestle with these questions, though it does eventually settle upon a solution that demonstrates a certain type of wisdom. Here both mothers, white and black, join forces in the interests of their child; neither has a monopoly on love. Samuel L. Jackson co-stars as a hilariously disgruntled lawyer.7/10 – Worth one viewing.

I've read the comments and the opinions from the various people on this board.I started used drugs after my son was born and I lost custody.My mother got custody.I worked hard to clean myself up and to be able provide a home for my son.Even after I was clean my mother wouldn't let me see my son,even though the court had ordered it and subsequently,my son didn't know me.I fought in court for over a year.I had to prove to a lot of people.I did win in court and my son came home that day.It was not easy and raising him has been a struggle at times.But just because a mother did drugs,it does not mean that her child is better of without her.It takes commitment.I went onto Nursing School and graduated and my son just graduated high school.We can turn our lives around and do what's in the best interest of our children.My son wants nothing to do drugs(his words),because he knows what it almost took us away from each other forever.I'm proud to say he's enrolled in the Army and we have a great mother/son relationship.Don't knock us because we made mistakes.Sometimes by making those mistakes,we become far better parents.I know I did.

I'm living this nightmare. The courts for the most part don't care about the emotional well-being of children, they are hell-bent on returning the children to the biological mother, regardless of any history. I have a stepdaughter, who is now 23 years old. 5 years ago, she gives birth to a baby girl, mixed race but irrelevant in my story, leaves the baby at my house. Motherhood interferes with the more important things in life, which is partying, getting drunk, high, and getting laid on a daily basis. The child is left with my wife and I, "mom" only shows up when she needs something at one point 14 months go she doesn't call, or show up. When she finally does, it's to "borrow" money for an abortion, she shows up at my house and doesn't even acknowledge her daughter is even in the room.In the meantime, I hired a lawyer and got permanent custody. I won the case by default, "mom" failed to show up in court.5 years go by. My wife and I are raising this beautiful girl as our own. Meanwhile, "mom" has another baby, a boy. One day, children's protective service shows up at our house with an 8 month old boy in tow. After numerous complaints, mostly because she would leave him with unsuspecting people who agreed to babysit the boy for weeks at a time, and removed him from her custody. Naturally, the obvious place to bring the boy was our house. To bring this to an end, now we are in a custody battle. The court gives the evil stepdaughter a lawyer. Not only does she want the boy back, but the 5 year old girl as well.Court case has been dragging out for a year now, 5 year old girl, has no idea what's going on. She knows her mother only as some obnoxious woman that comes over once in a while. The judge,a middle age single woman with short hair and "comfortable" shoes, if you get my meaning, has given the stepdaughter every benefit of the doubt, and treats my wife and I like the villain in all of this at every turn. At this point, I'm convinced this is not going to end well, and not in the best interest of the children. I am especially concerned about the 5 year old, who has been with my wife and I since the day she was born and knows no other home but ours.So to those that said the plot is unrealistic, I can tell you from experience that it is not.

A comment was made that this movie has a bad ending. This is a TRUE story that happened in San Antonio, Texas. Although Hollywood and most movie goers want a neat and tidy ending, this does not portray REAL LIFE. Indeed, this movie portrays a real situation and does it well. Makes you think a lot about our child adoption system. What is best for the CHILD is what should be the focus, however obviously biology is the only significant thing that our courts consider. This shows the child wanting and being more comfortable with the adopted family.This was an excellent film. Halle Barry showed some real acting chops. Previous to this movie she was just in party movies, playing on her looks. She acted up against Jessica quite well.However, the courtroom scenes were quite biased to Halle's situation. Not sure how much of the courtroom scenes were based on the real transcripts.Jessica was excellent as always!