Tonight's Friends

[AdinaL]

This actually does relate to Infertility Missy, I promise!! :LOL

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to want to watch it, and it turned out to be okay. I didn't burst into tears or anything, which is good!

BUt wow, can I just say that is the easiest bout with infertility I have ever seen. I know it is a sitcom and all, and not supposed to delve into all the yucky stuff, but I would think since Courtney Cox has had problems getting pregnant it would have been a little more than three or four episodes dealing with it....One to show they were trying, one to show they tried and it hadn't worked, one to diagnose the problem and one to begin filing for adoption.

I was kind of bummed that they didn't take a little more time with it.

Maybe if they dealt with infertility on ER, they might get into it more....

[lilyka]

ahh, but they have to wrap it up in 3 more episodes and the last one has to be of themcoming home with thier new baby and ross and rachel getting married. I would be willing to bet money that this is how the last episode will play out.

It was awfully sweet the things he said to the birth mother about Monica. I wish dh would say sweet things like that about me.

[SpiralWoman]

oh yes, I watched it with 1 eye as well, it never got horrible, just everything so simple. good ole Chandler. I just wish sitcoms wouldn't try to do seriuos stuff. It would have been much funnier for Mon to just get pregnant, & be a super competitive OCD person like she is... whoops, not real people
back to supportive lurking mode
Maria

[Elphaba]

well, they did try to get pregnant for a long time, they started when rachel was in labor with emma. so for a whole season they were trying to get pg. and then they had the doctor visit, and then they had the episode where john stamos was brought in as a possible inseminator, and then they had 2 episodes investigating adoption and getting started, and now this one with the birthmom.
i'm not saying it bears much resemblance to the struggles of real people, but it hasn't been just 4 episodes.
remember monica talking about how she was "still ovulating until tomorrow." WTF was that? what kind of test was she using? and chandler peeing on her tests, the bastard.:LOL

[SpiralWoman]

u r right Elphaba, I am a survivor watcher, so what do I know of Friends, didn't even know about the john stamos part.

[AdinaL]

Elphaba you are right about having more than four episodes...I guess it was because most of those were only short bits in the episode. Not full episodes about getting pregnant. But it was definetely simplified...

And the "ovulating till tomorrow" sort of made me go "huh?!" :

Not real life, I know....and I don't know why I expected more.

At least she got her baby! That is something I can relate to wanting to happen.

[Elphaba]

yeah, but don't you think the adoption agency would have kicked them out for lying to a birth mother? that was too ridiculous.

I do think it's wonderful that IRL she has gotten to announce a pregnancy. she must be 5-6 months now. I had hoped they would be able to write her pregnancy into the show, but I guess it's a bit late for that. Maybe they'll have Monica get pregnant AND adopt. That happened to a woman I know. Her daughters are 7 months apart. She was told she'd never be able to get pregnant, started the adoption process, and now she has 2 little ones.

[Laurel]

I don't usually watch Friends, but I did watch this one since I'm an adoptive mama and was curious to see how it was handled. I was bothered by the lying thing, too, even though I realize they had to do something stupid for laughs. I just thought it added to the stereotype of desperate adoptive parents who would do anything, no matter how underhanded, to get a baby. Never in a million years would I have dreamed of lying to my son's birthmother, no matter how much I wanted to be a mother. And if I were a bithmother, I would never choose such a couple to parent my baby, no matter how sentimental and sweet the apology.

I remember when the show Coach did a series of episodes on infertility, and I really enjoyed the way it was handled there.

[Nemmer]

I ditto what Laurel said, except that I do regularly watch Friends. It's one bad habit of mine, I fully admit. I'm really actually glad this is the last season.

But everything else Laurel said, ditto. In fact the lying to the birthparents made me really angry, to be honest. I started a thread about it in Media:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...hreadid=108193

I do like the idea of getting feedback in this forum from other mamas who've endured IF, too.

[blessed2bamommie]

Hey, Adina....I was gonna post a question and I guess I've dived right in! ag I have worship team mtg that night and not a watcher; but, I noticed that too! No if treatments nothing! I guess Rachel already got knocked up and they want to address adoption like everyone has been discussing more these days. I guess if is too unpleasant I suppose.

[gonnabeamom]

They did address IF treatments in one earlier episode, Chandler is a no go on sperm, and Monica has a "hostile environment" so they would have had to go for a sperm donor IVF and they decided they'd rather adopt.

I'm not real thrilled with how they've handled it, but I'm more upset that they've trashed almost all the characters except Chandler, who is the only one who ever does anything nice for anyone on the show anymore-aren't these people supposed to like each other?

I am wondering how people felt about IF on Friends back when Pheobe was a surrogate for her brother. Most of the stuff around the birth was stupid, but the expense and difficulty of doing IVF was addressed, along with the complications of being a surrogate (at least as far as a sitcom can)

T If I have to watch another sitcom birth, where the woman has planned a natural birth and immediately starts screaming for drugs and a doctor when labor hits, I'm gonna do something drastic,

[AdinaL]

I hear you on that one....

I don't know how I felt about the Phoebe story line. I don't remember much of it. I remember the whole triplets thing and her wanting to keep one and talking ot her mom about it, but that is about it.

[blessed2bamommie]

Must have been one I missed. I don't keep up, since its a meeting night for me! I never knew the *reason they were adopting. Why did I have endo on the brain. :

I forgot about Phoebe. Well, just about everyone was , or had a kid except the *married one! (If I remember correctly.....) OK! me too!