In the most recent episode of "Possums, Pregnancy & Patriarchy" The Conners dealt with the controversial issue of teen-pregnancy where Darlene's 19 year old daughter Harris discovers that she is pregnant. Scared & unsure of what to do, she is reluctant to tell her mother & her grandfather, while confining in her Aunt Jacky. Jacky eventually spills the beans during a meal at the kitchen table & we are soon given an assortment of positions as the topic is met head on.
One of the elements that has made The Conners so successful is that not only has it had the courage to deal with difficult, polarizing topics, it has also had the courage to present all sides of the issue. Upon discovering Harris' pregnancy, Darlene strongly advocates for her to have an abortion. Dan strongly advocates for her to see the pregnancy to full term & raise the baby. Jacky while revealing she had an abortion herself, remains adamant that the choice is ultimately not hers to make & that Harris is the only one who can make the decision. With so much of television being strictly one way or the other on the political spectrum, it is refreshing to see a show have representation from various sides. The issue here is, it was missing a side.
"Possums, Pregnancy & Patriarchy" presented the issue as if there were only two options. Harris gets an abortion or she chooses to have a baby at 19. With Dan saying, "have the baby", Darlene saying, "abort it" & Jacky saying, "This is your decision" where was a fourth character suggesting to give the baby up for adoption?
The state of adoption is and has been one of the most undiscussed issues in this country. There's a lot dirty, dark secrets about adoption that The Conners could have brought to light. There could have been a heated back & forth between two characters that revealed information about adoption that I would wager a large percentage of the audience is unaware of.
Imagine the argument between characters
Harris, have you thought about giving it up for adoption?
Yeah sure, have the baby grow up in an orphanage for half of its life and then spend the other half of its life in and out of foster homes cause no one wants to adopt a child
No one wants to adopt a child?
Do you see how many unwanted children there are out there?
Unwanted children? Unwanted!?! Are you sure about that? How about the fact that it cost between $25,000 & $45,000 to adopt. Or how about in some states you can't adopt if you're single. If you're too young or too old. How some states won't let you adopt if you don't own your own home. Rent? Too bad, you aren't adopting
You can't adopt if you rent instead of own?
Yeah. You also can't adopt in some states if you're a gay couple or if you're lesbian. Hell in some states you can't adopt unless you're a native of the state
Something as simple as that. A little exchange that would have taken less than a minute of screen time. It could have added something important to the episode without taking anything away. Giving The Conners a show that prides itself on having a voice from all sides an opportunity to truly do so.
In the end Harris ultimately makes the choice to have the baby, as she weighs the options of abortion or raise the child at a young age. We still could have came to this conclusion by adding and exploring a third choice. It should have been abortion, raise the baby or adoption & The Conners missed out on an opportunity to tackle another controversial topic by completely omitting it.
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