Daring.

Last night, I finally had a chance to watch ABC Family's show The Secret Life of the American Teenager. This isn't a show I normally watch and honestly the episode I saw last night was the very first one I had seen. The only reason I watched it is because a fellow baby loss mother told me about how the episode dared to show a pregnant teenager suffer the birth of a stillborn baby girl. I wanted to see what the writers perception of the whole issue was and let's face it, when the topic is so taboo and hardly talked about and a show dares to put it out there on a family show, my interests were peaked. I cried through pretty much the entire episode even though most of the show wasn't about the birth. I cried because it reminded me of what I had been through. I cried because I was proud that ABC put something like that on national television. I cried because I just needed a good cry. I cried because I missed Aven.

There was a scene where the grandfather had to explain to the mother's friends that arrived at the hospital to congratulate her that things didn't end so happily. He told the friends that the couple would never be the same again. They would be changed forever. Nail on the head. The episode that follows I haven't watched yet but from what I have read it shows a glimpse at how the mother deals with things once she has left the hospital. I find it interesting that one little episode about stillbirth made the ratings of the show go up. I have seen it posted on several baby loss threads and miscarriage forums and am sure the hits on that one particular episode will continue to rise, at least as far as the baby loss community goes.

So, kudos to ABC Family for daring to put that out there. After all, the mother that gave birth to a stillborn is the lady that sits next to you in the cube at work, the kindergarten school teacher at your child's school, your best friend, your great aunt, your cousin, the woman behind you at the grocery store, the pregnant teenager in your English class. The woman that gave birth to a stillborn baby is everywhere.