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Private Practice: A Mother Never Leaves Her Child Behind
Cooper is trying to figure out the cause of little Emily O'Brien's failure to thrive. Genetic testing reveals more than anyone expected. The ensuing hunt for answers involves Cooper, Addison, Naomi, and Violet. Even the chief of staff of the hospital where Emily was born gets involved in the investigation.
The genetic testing results tell the doctors that Emily has a gene-linked disorder, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD). PMD is a rare, progressive, degenerative central nervous system disorder. There are medications to ease some symptoms, but no cure; the parents are told that "the drugs may give her 5 years, maybe more."
***Spoiler Alert***
But the genetic testing also reveals that the O'Briens are not the parents of baby Emily. A check of hospital records reveals that another African-American baby girl was delivered at St. Ambrose on the same day as Emily. And the second little girl, Sarah Stinson, is the result of fertility treatments given by Naomi. Another round of DNA tests proves that Emily belongs to the Stinsons and Sarah belongs to the O'Briens. Addison insists that someone must switched the babies at the hospital - but who? Who would do such a thing?
The fathers are presented as stark contrasts. Greg O'Brien seems remote and detached. He makes no comment when told his baby could die in less than 5 years or when told she's not his. His reaction to hearing that the babies were switched? "Are you accusing us? Do you think that we wanted this?"
Duncan Stinson's reaction is to scream furiously at Naomi. What will a parent do for a child? "Do you know what you put my wife through, what you put us through?...let down after let down, the miscarriages, the hormones...do you know how many shots I had to stick in her? She could hardly move she was so bruised!...taking our money and promising us a healthy baby!"
Naomi reminds him that she didn't promise a healthy baby, just a baby. But the question remains: who switched the babies? Who would do such a thing to a child?
Meanwhile Sam is dealing with the Walker family: dad Dave who drinks, teen son Stevie who is surly, and Grandma Gloria who seems to be out of it (Mom has left). Sam makes a house call (more on this later) and finds Dave collapsed and suffering from severe nausea and vomiting. Sam is puzzled, but when Stevie later presents with the same symptoms after eating sandwiches made by his loving Grandma, Sam orders blood tests to look for ingested poisons. Turns out Grandma Gloria isn't as out of it as Sam thought. She warns him to leave them alone. "This is a family matter."
Sam accuses Grandma Gloria of feeding poison mushrooms to her son and grandson. Grandma admits that alcoholism is a problem in her family and this is how she is attempting to stop Dave from drinking (getting Stevie off the bottle is a bonus - no one realized that his surly behavior was alcohol fueled). When Sam threatens to report Grandma to the police if she doesn't stop feeding them the mushrooms, she says go ahead. "My family means everything. If I don't protect them [from alcohol], who will?" Grandma Gloria obviously believes that a mother never leaves her child behind, even a grown child, even if it means feeding him poison to save him from himself.
Sam shares the poison mushroom story with his colleagues. As the group mulls the question "how could a parent do that to her child?", Addison realizes that in the baby switching case "A parent did that to a child."
Visitor records show that Duncan Stinson, the outraged father, was the only person who was a constant presence in the hospital nursery. And medical records show that the sick child had a seizure when only two days old. Duncan knew something was wrong with his child, so he switched the babies. His heart-broken wife cries out, "Your daughter - you were supposed to take care of her; instead you switched her because she was sick. How could you give my baby to someone else?"
His justification? "...3 years and $250,000...all my wife's hopes and dreams!"
What will a parent do for a child? According to Private Practice, for some parents the answer is almost anything.
***
Notes - Okay, I'm willing to let pass that DNA test results and blood test results come back faster than a speeding bullet on this show; I'll ignore the fact that no hospital chief of staff is going to personally haul sensitive medical and personnel records over to a private office without a court order and a lawyer present; I'll buy into the premise that a group of docs are all this pretty - hey it's TV! But house calls? Anyone out there know a doc who does house calls? And I mean house calls to regular people like the Walkers, like you and me, not to the rich and famous. I don't run with that crowd so I'm not sure what their private physicians do, but among the regular folks I hang with, not one can remember the last time they heard of a doctor making a house call. Have you ever had a doctor make a house call?
- "Midwifs" When Naomi declines to speak to Dell's midwifery class, Addison volunteers, "I'll do it. I love talking to midwifs." Then she rolls her eyes. This from an ob/gyn who is "actually a double board certified neo-natal surgeon ... one of the best in the world...with a specialty in genetics...DNA..." No wonder Dell turns her down! I'm sure there are some ob's who are disdainful or dismissive of midwives (although many have respect and admiration for their dedicated and talented colleagues), but at least they all know they are midwives, not "midwifs". Sheesh - let's put the brains back in Addison. Personal life a mess? Yes! That's the fun part of these shows. But professionally - she's smart. Let's not keep making her sound like an uneducated, unenlightened fool.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Private Practice, Addison, Kate Walsh, baby switching, parenting, PMD, genetic testing, DNA testing
