Subj : Re: What TPTB Coulda Done
To   : alt.tv.er
From : Van Bagnol
Date : Sun Oct 02 2005 08:42:41

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er

In article <1128176488.385366.195430@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
 npardue@indiana.edu wrote:

> Was just thinking about possible storylines involving a surrogate
> arrangment that would have been
> a) more interesting
> b) more believable
> c) more compelling and emotional.
> 
> I mean, what we got a non-dilemma, presented to us as a terrible
> decision ... but the result was that we just had a group of blatantly
> stupid people making blatantly stupid decisions paraded across the
> screen.

Hear hear!

> Now, the problem with other possible angles would be that most would be
> played out primarily in OB, but, of course, that's never stopped the
> writers from keeping the patients in the ER before!
> 
> But suppose Claire was seriously injured in the accident ... maybe a
> 'ripped from the headlines' situation where she's brain dead and the
> intended parents want to keep her body functioning until the baby is
> old enouogh to survive in the outside world.
> 
> Or the intended parents pressure her to have a not-very-necessary
> section, and there are complications resulting in her having a
> hysterectomy. (Or even a very-necessary-section with the same results.)

Your scenarios above all would have been more interesting/believable/ 
compelling choices. I'm surprised the writers came up with such a bland 
one.

> Or she comes in and is found to have cancer, or some other illness that
> requires sacrificing the baby for her own well-being. (Yes, I know
> they've done pregnant-woman-with-cancer stories at least twice before,
> but the surrogacy angle would give it a unique spin. (Maybe surrogate
> mom feels compelled to continue the pregnancy, and the docs have to try
> to convince her to pursue treatment.)

I'm not certain, but I think this had already been explored in an 
episode of _House_. Or was it _Grey's Anatomy_?

> Or baby is found (still en-utero) to have some horrible defect, and
> IP's want SM to abort, but she refuses. 

Ooh, good one!

> Any other ideas?

I would think any modern surrogacy contract, i.e., one built upon and 
revised from years of unusual tried cases, could provide material for 
testing the limits. Not to mention the court cases themselves. Sometimes 
truth is stranger than fiction.

Van
-- 
Van Bagnol / n p c o m p l e t e at bagnol dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com
....enjoys Theatre / Windsurfing / Skydiving / Mountain Biking
....feels "parang lumalakad ako soo loob ng panaginip"
....thinks "An Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

.