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2010 Mom on a Mission: Penelope Jagessar Chaffer

For her remarkable perseverance against all obstacles to ensure a healthier world for all children, our second annual Mom on a Mission Award for Inspiration goes to Penelope Jagessar Chaffer whose compelling life story, including the creation of her inspiring film "Toxic Baby," serves as an exemplary model to all mothers, parents, and concerned citizens of what one person can achieve when she generously gives back and overcomes adversity with courage.

Penelope was nominated by friends and family. Here is what her husband wrote: 

"I would like to nominate my wife and mother of my son, Penelope Jagessar Chaffer.  When she found out about the issue of environmental chemical pollution, she could have told no one and made changes in our own life. Or only tell our closest friends and family. My wife felt she had no choice but to share this information with anyone who would listen and as an award winning filmmaker, I knew she could do it. The only thing I hadn’t envisaged was how difficult it would be for her to do so.

For years she worked on the film AND raised our son as a stay at home mom. Editing an entire film in our bedroom whilst looking after a toddler is no mean feat. Through the worldwide financial meltdown and moving house thousands of miles, she kept going and when it became clear that the last thing the world would do in the midst of such financial chaos, is fund an independent film that didn’t feature celebrities or cute animals, she convinced me to sell our home and use the funds to make the film.

Then tragedy struck.

At the end of last year, we became pregnant again after years of trying. The first scan revealed a defect in the baby’s bladder. The day before Christmas Eve of last year, my wife had the second scan to determine how bad the problem was. The scan revealed no heartbeat. My wife spent the Christmas holidays waiting to deliver our dead child. Later she showed me the research that linked this birth defect, which is on the rise, to estrogenic chemicals in the womb. I know at her lowest point, she thought about giving up. Somehow she kept going. She didn’t start this because we had a child with cancer or autism, she just felt it was the right thing to do. She told me that she never thought we’d end up a statistic of childhood disease linked to chemical exposure. Could we all afford to wait until we all became a statistic? She said whatever it took she was going to do finish the film. And she did.

Toxic Baby starts screening in New York and New Orleans this fall, premiering at a prestigious scientific symposium, e.hormone on October 19th of this year.  She’s also started a local movement here in Brooklyn, NY where we live. She’s advising schools on how they can reduce their toxicity and is using some of the screenings as fundraisers. She has contacted our local hospitals to lobby them to change the plastic products they use, introducing them to some of the scientists featured in her film. She has started a blog. She always said it would all be worth it even if one person and their dog saw the reality of what’s happening. I think she’s going to reach a lot more than that. :-)

The best news of all? Somehow, in the midst of all of this, rather miraculously we got pregnant again. We are at the halfway point, and every test has come back absolutely fine. It’s a little girl.

My wife has taught me that we all need to do the right thing, even when it is challenging. That there are mothers who face the challenge of changing the way our children are raised, the way we shop, consume and live. Mothers under pressure to “save money” even if it means exposing your family to toxic things. Mothers performing economic miracles that the President would kill for, every day to stretch an already limited budget to include organic food, wooden toys and green washing powder. Mothers saying no to chemically laden soda, making household cleaners. Scrimping to buy fancy vacuum cleaners with weird filters that cost twice as much as the ordinary ones.

I would love to say that through out it all I supported my wife whole heartedly but that would not be telling the truth. Much of the time I didn’t “get it” and sometimes I even resented the cost of our grocery bills. Even though I read the research, I didn’t believe it until I heard the scientists and saw the pictures of newborn boys with deformed penises or the statistics of how many children will get cancer. Like many people, I needed to see to believe and it was only then that I realized the importance and power of what she did.

I would be honored if you recognized my wife for her incredible belief and work to spread the message to as many people of possible. She is a brilliant example of millions of ordinary mothers who are all doing extraordinary things at challenging times, to make the world a safer place for all our children."

Want to know how to nominate that special mom, or yourself for 2011?