3 Positive Portrayals of Surrogacy in Television

There are a lot of misconceptions about surrogacy because of its portrayal in movies and television. For the sake of plot and drama, the media tends to blow surrogacy up into a dramatic process full of ridiculous ups and downs that simply do not occur in real life.

Here are some excellent portrayals of surrogacy in the media that won’t mislead you, but will take liberties with the process.

Phoebe in Friends

This 90’s classic featured a storyline in the fourth season where Pheobe Buffet, portrayed by Lisa Kudrow, becomes pregnant with triplets for her brother and his wife, who are experiencing infertility. She has a pleasant pregnancy and talks about how meaningful what she’s doing is, though she doesn’t always explain it well to outsiders, leading to some comedic interactions.

At the end of her pregnancy, she expresses how joyful she is to have done this for her family and continues to be involved in the children’s lives from there.

Major Kira in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

While this sci-fi interpretation of surrogacy takes some liberties with how the pregnancy comes about, this is an excellent portrayal of surrogacy. In a plotline from season four Major Kira, portrayed by Nana Visitor, and a newly pregnant Keiko O’Brien, portrayed by Rosalind Chao, are caught in a warp anomaly that transfers the baby to Major Kira.

Kira carries the pregnancy to term and leads a very normal life during this time period. She is in constant contact with the parents as they are close friends, works her regular job, and expresses how grateful she is to be helping them with this. After she delivers the child, she regularly babysits and visits the family.

Heather in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

The setup for this plotline in the second season in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is similar to how many surrogacy journeys start.  The main character’s boss wants to have a child, but cannot reproduce by traditional means. After speaking with the main character, she decides to donate her eggs for him, and a friend of hers hears about this and volunteers to be his surrogate.

This surrogacy is done by someone who is financially stable and secure. She becomes pregnant through traditional IVF methods and delivers. After this point, she is not particularly close to the parent or the child, which is also normal for some surrogacy journeys.