Synopsis      

“Not My Father’s Child” tells the story of Nate, Mark and Dortha Phelps, three of the 13 children of the late Fred Phelps, founder and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The film details the journey of their escape from the tyranny of abuse perpetrated against them by their father. While both Phelps and the members of Westboro Baptist are known worldwide for their “God Hates Fags” sign-wielding, hate-filled public protests, the physical, mental and emotional torture levied by Phelps against his wife and children has remained, for the most part, hauntingly hidden away for decades.

Told through chilling reenactment scenes and personal interviews with Nate, Mark and Dortha Phelps, “Not My Father’s Child” reveals the untold story of these three first-generation survivors. From their daily struggle to endure the abusive outbursts of their father to breaking free from the indoctrination of a belief system grounded in hate to their search for emotional and psychological healing to their desire to eradicate hate and to help others, Nate, Mark and Dortha offer viewers a first-time, behind-the-scenes look at their path from hate to hope.