I had a moment alone the other night and rather than run back into my home office, I took a 20-minute break and watched an episode of Cheers on Netflix. I am usually the last one to watch a classic television series, but better late than never, right?
I was on Season 10, Episode 11, “I’m Okay, You’re Defective.” For anyone who needs a refresher, Rebecca sends Sam to her fertility doctor since they have been trying for months to get pregnant with no such luck. Rebecca finds out she is fertile and points the blame on Sam. Sam is upset and embarrassed that something could be wrong with him, so much so that he could not even read his own test results.
As I sat there watching the show alone in my rocking recliner, right after putting Ferris down to sleep, I realized something…my face never cracked a smile. I did not giggle nor laugh at one line. Instead, I was appalled, angry, and quite frankly, wanting to turn the episode off halfway through.
I felt as if the show were personally attacking people like my husband and I out to be some kind of freak because we can’t conceive a baby naturally.
Who gave them the right to do that?
Infertility is nothing to be ashamed of.
It certainly shouldn’t be used to poke fun at, either.
I understand that times have changed, and you know what, I am beyond grateful they have because this type of comedy television is disheartening.
IVF is a very personal, emotional, raw experience. It is intense, and infertility is a very tough topic to stomach, especially when you have family and friends telling you they have no idea why you have problems when there is no history of infertility to deem liable.
It’s not a blame game, folks.
I am sure Cheers was targeting a different audience back in 1991, but in 2019, it’s just not funny anymore. Sam and Rebecca should have never called each other out because they had infertility. Sam should have never been so macho and proud to deny going to a fertility doctor. And infertility should have never been used as material to laugh at on a classic comedy series.
Because today, the couples who are experiencing it aren’t pointing the blame at each other.
Rather they are working together to find answers to overcome infertility, and see if IVF is the positive solution for them.
If only Sam had opened that envelope…he would have seen he was one of the lucky ones.
Or was he?