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I swear. I must be a glutton for punishment. As I was flipping through channels last night after my older son was put to bed, I saw the name of a movie. I stopped and pressed the information button on Love Notes to see more about the movie. Of course, the word adoption was red and glowing on my screen.
Okay, maybe not red and glowing but it could have been. I was expecting something completely different and, bam! There’s adoption in my face!
Instead of continuing on my clicking journey, I stayed. See? A glutton for punishment. I did miss the beginning of the movie so it took me a few minutes to catch up. In short, an educated career woman (non-teen, mind you!) found herself pregnant with a country star’s baby. She was planning on placing her child with her friend and her friend’s husband as they were dealing with infertility. Some drama occurred and the husband left which left the expectant mother wanting a two parent home for her child. Why the big hubbub over the two parent home? She was raised by a single mother and didn’t like it.
Of course, to place in a non-private adoption, she needs the father’s signature. So, then we get into some dramatic movie issues over whether or not she can get his signature. We then find out that he’s a foster kid and is really bent out of shape about her placing the baby so “cavalierly.” During all of this, he says he wants to parent the baby with her. But, as any Lifetime movie is full of, more drama occurs and she takes off on her own.
As she is meeting with a set of potential parents, her water breaks. (Can you imagine? Goodness.) She goes to the hospital gives birth.
And then I just lost it.
The hospital wouldn’t let her see or hold the baby because they “felt it was best in potential adoptions.” The potential adoptive couple is sitting in the waiting room, oohing and ahhing over the fact that she is educated and pretty. The father shows up and leaves the signature after he sees the parents talking.
But then, I lost it even more.
The friend that was originally set to receive the baby shows up and asks the questions that every birth mother with regrets wishes she would have been asked in the hospital. She tells her that she can do it. She encourages her to hold her baby. And when the new mother says to her friend, “Will you help me?” The friend replies positively.
Yes, I was a mess, okay?
In the end, the mother ends up parenting the baby. To cheese it up, the father shows up on her doorstep and they kiss.
However, I lost it again because the song at the end of the movie includes the line, “Don’t give your love away.” Ouch, Lifetime. Ouch.
Now, I have to say something. Granted, the movie was full of dramatic exaggerations. It had some stereotypes. But it broke a few, too! These weren’t teens. They weren’t even in their early twenties. They were established adults. The reasons behind their placement issues (for and against) were complicated and complex (much like every other birth mother and father). They showed the hospital issues of present day (not letting mothers see their children) quite well. (I was one of those mothers that was told she shouldn’t see her baby and I didn’t until the second day.) And for once, the decision to parent was not villainized. Instead, it was celebrated. Even the potential parents that almost had the baby but didn’t were all for open adoption!
Quite frankly, if I could have watched the last twenty-or-so minutes of the movie without the rest of that malarchy, it would have been a better experience. Well, up until the last ten seconds when my ears made my heart sad again as they reminded me that I gave my love away.
Anyway, it wasn’t a total waste of two hours. That’s a shock for Lifetime!
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For more on movies, read these posts.
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I couldn’t have clicked through that faster then I did. I read the description and that was enough for me to continue on and find something else on tv.