Parenthood – TV telling a real adoption story
Feb. 28th | Posted by Nicky
4 comments
I started watching this show, Parenthood, last year. It’s all about a large family dynamic and I’ve really been enjoying it.
Little did I know that one of the main themes would be adoption. One grown-up daughter, her husband and daughter wanted to adopt a baby. She runs into a pregnant girl working the coffee cart at work, and basically eventually asks her if she could adopt her baby. (As improbable as this sounds, it’s not a crazy plot. When people found out we were adopting from Ethiopia, domestic private adoptions sort of appeared out of nowhere.)
But the reason this show is SO well done, is that it shows the difficulties the girl is going through – her mixed emotions, strength, and moments of weakness. It shows the issues between the adoptive couple and the crazy emotions the adoptive mom is going through. But the most intricate and realistic part is the complexity of the adoptive mom and birth mother’s relationship. I won’t spoil it for you, but I’ll encourage you to watch it. Rarely do I see a primetime show treat all the people in the adoption triad with as much dignity and complexity as this show does. You can watch it here.
Anybody else watch Parenthood? Do you have the same reactions to the show as I do? Or different insights?
As I said on your FB, I started watching because of the autism story and that hooked me. They do such an amazing job of documenting the ups and downs of raising a kid who has high-functioning autism..the stress, worries, fears. And then they added the adoption storyline. I like that they show both sides of the coin -the birth mom’s struggles with her decision and the adoptive mom and dad’s fears/need for control of a situation that is so out of their hands. I like how they also interwove the daughter and her feeling about her baby brother, as it’s not just about parents anticipating a child. My boys are VERY aware that their sister is not home yet and they ask daily about it. It’s hard when kids are in the mix. Anyways, great show. I hope that they don’t do the typical Hollywood thing and have the birth mom show up in 2 days with the baby, saying she can’t handle it, because that is not what happens in real life. As much as I wanted them to have the adoption go through, they need to stay true to what is sometimes the reality of a domestic adoption.
I saw the next episode last night, and I think how it ended is very possible and very true – it’s happened to a few of our friends and aquaintences. And then with the “drop off” from the social worker last night – also completely possible. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I think they are so good at showing the complex feelings of loss, hope, frustration and support…
I agree, this show has been great. I watched the last two episodes and cried throughout. It is probably the most realistic prime time show I have seen in awhile that deals with the complicated feelings and expectations that surround adoption. The only thing I think was lacking was showing her feelings around her siblings new baby.
That’s true… I thought about that as well….