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I have a guilty pleasure. It’s a teen angst drama that goes by the name of One Tree Hill. Of course, they graduated high school last season and to keep things interesting and fresh, they hit the fast-forward button on time and this season features the characters four years later, adjusting to adulthood with just as much angst as ever. One was recently left at the alter! The couple that married in high school is having problems! Someone kidnapped the kid! Oh! The drama!
So, what does this have to do with adoption?
I wish I could say, “Absolutely nothing! My favorite show wouldn’t side-swipe me with an adoption storyline!” But, then I’d be lying to you. Last night brought us a new episode and my Husband and I sat down on our big, comfy couch to watch. (Yes, my Husband loves it as well! Shh!) About five minutes into the show, I looked at him and said, “NO!” And he said, “Oh, yes.” He knows, more than anyone, how adoption storylines on television make me feel. He knows that I really try to avoid them for sanity’s sake. And he knows that as much as I try to avoid them, these storylines seem to stalk me!
The premise? Brooke, a 22 year old super-successful fashion designer with her own clothing line, magazine and the whole nine yards, has decided that she wants to adopt a child. The episode featured an interview with a social worker and the home study. Throughout the episode, the social worker is asking Brooke important and pertinent questions about her reasons behind adoption and her readiness to parent a child. Her age, past decisions and relationship with her estranged mother are all called into question.
To be honest, I was rooting for the social worker. I didn’t want Brooke to be approved to adopt. I mean, yes, I have selfish reasons. I don’t want to be “forced” to watch an adoption storyline unfold on my screen every week. I don’t want to avoid my favorite show just to avoid being triggered by said plot either! I also had other reasons that I didn’t want Brooke to be approved to adopt. For example, she is the same age that I was when I placed. On top of that, she’s single! Like I was! And I was told that I wasn’t good enough for a child! Beyond that, she is devoted to her work. And she should be as she has an awesome career. I had a laundry list of reasons why Brooke shouldn’t be approved to adopt.
And the social worker agreed with me! And I felt justified!
And then Brooke had to go and give one of those speeches that television characters are known for giving. You know the kind. The one that makes the receiver of said speech reevaluate everything she thought about the person and form a whole new opinion. Because those kind of speeches work in real life, right? I mean, I could just go up to someone who has a negative view of birth parents and deliver an awesome, heartfelt discourse regarding all of my positive attributes and they would suddenly view me as I truly am instead of in the stereotypical birth mother fashion. Oh, wait, that doesn’t work.
But, Brooke’s speech made me tear up. While I meant to save it on my DVR, my Husband accidentally deleted it when we were finished watching as is our normal routine. But it was a real winner and, in the end, I wanted Brooke to adopt even if it means I have to sit through some awful, horrid marred-specifically-for-television adoption crapola. I mean, in the end, it’s just more fodder for the blog, no?
The season is only midway through due to the writer’s strike so I’m sure I’ll be keeping you up-to-date over the next handful of weeks, especially if they decide to focus on a birth mother storyline. Stay tuned!
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For more on adoption on TV, read these posts.
