Stereotypical bs

Okay, I'll admit it. I have a guilty pleasure -- ah, hell, what infertile doesn't have one or many? But mine involves the mindless show that is Nip/Tuck.

Well, last night's episode found Julia (wife of Dr. McNamara--from whom she is currently separated) going under the knife to fix the facial cuts she suffered blah blah blah. While under anesthesia, she has an 'alternative' life experience to the the tune of what her life would have been like had she not dropped out of med school and had she married Dr. McNamara's partner, Dr. Troy, whom she's had the hots for since college.

In the midst of this 'dream' sequence, she asks her life coach (who's leading her ride through life B) why she and Christian (Dr. Troy) never had children. She's told that this has happened because, basically, she chose herself and her career over family. Her reply to this news was (and I think I'm recalling this correctly), "Great, now I've become one of those cliched barren women forced to go the IVF route." This...made...my...blood...boil.

This show just bought in to the old stupid adage that women who choose to have careers, to finish their education, and so on, are being 'punished' somehow for those decisions. What the f*ck? Where does this bullshit come from? No one asks to be given infertility, and it doesn't just affect career women who've waited to start building their families. ARGGHHH, I could scream at this unfair, unrealistic, one-sided portrayal.

The show then went on to show Julia at a 'reproductive specialist's' office (or some other such vague clinical title--seriously, couldn't they have gone with RE if they wanted to be technical and, thereby, accurate) getting hormone/fertility shots. A few other times during the episode, Julia made comments to the effect that she had to go get hormone shots--a completely inaccurate portrayal of the IVF process because, realistically, she and/or her partner should be capable of giving her her own hormone shots during the cycle (and she's supposed to be a doctor in this alternative life sequence?).

I am so incensed by this stereotypical portrayal of infertile women. It is this bullshit that shapes how the general (read unknowledgeable) public perceives infertility and infertile couples. Essentially, we're to blame; we're being 'punished' somehow for our decisions. Maybe it's a little extreme but I'm so pissed that I'm thinking about writing the producers (Warner Bros. Studios) or the network (FX) and letting them know how unfair and inaccurate their portrayal was. Even if you don't watch the show, I encourage you to consider doing the same. I know it's not much, but...damn. I'll get off my soapbox now.

And I think I'm done watching the show. Time to find another guilty pleasure.... Any suggestions?