Why wasn’t adoption an option for Tommy and Julia?
Watching “Northern Exposure” again this weekend reminded me of something I really, really hated about the episode the first (and second) time around: The complete disregard of adoption as a logical alternative for Tommy and Julia.
As an adoptive parent and a writer on adoption issues, I’ll admit I tend to be more sensitive to this stuff than other viewers. And I do appreciate that Kevin mentioned adoption very sincerely and enthusiastically. But the entire weight of the episode seemed to fall on genes making a family, and anybody born a Walker being a Walker with all rights and privileges. Helping out a family member here = donating sperm, as opposed to welcoming a child however he or she comes to be a Walker.
This stung for me the most during Kitty’s speech to Kevin about how the Walkers would rally around any child of the family, and that child would never feel alone. It would have been so easy, so very easy, to add something like, “And if Tommy and Julia adopt a child, or bear a child from a sperm donor, that would be just as true.”
It’s not inconceivable (pardon the pun) that Kevin will one day want to adopt a child. Would have been nice to leave some opening for that now, no? Not to mention all the trouble that “genes mean family” is getting those Walkers into now with Rebecca.
Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Northern Exposure, adoption
Photo: ABC.com
Leave a Reply