Gleefully a Gleek

by Merry Armentrout

I’m a gleek.  If you don’t know what that means, you’ve never tuned into the TV show Glee. Every Tuesday night I wrestle the remote away from my husband, and plant myself in front of the tube to watch an hour of high school kids singing and dancing through the halls of McKinley High. The show revolves around a motley collection of high school students who endure the ridicule of being in the glee club for their love of music.  The choir is aptly named “New Directions”, and the club desperately wants to earn respect from their classmates, and more importantly to the group of social outcasts, popularity.  New Directions covers songs from past eras, such as Journey’s Faithfully, to the hits of today, most recently an entire episode dedicated to Lady GaGa. In my opinion, the singing is awesome, but my husband rants and raves about the group butchering all of the greatest hits.  When he does this, I simply tune him out, and turn the TV up.  He isn’t a gleek, but I am, and every week viewers are coming over to my side.  This makes me happy not because I’m right, and my husband is dead wrong, but because as the show gains popularity, so do the story lines on the show dealing with family building.

When I first watched the show, I was so enthralled with the singing I overlooked the plotlines which coincidentally coincide with The American Fertility Association's four goals: Infertility Prevention, Reproductive Health, Adoption and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) family building.  

New Directions is led by Spanish teacher Will Schuester, or as the kids call him, “Mr. Shu”.  Mr. Shu not only has the challenge of leading New Directions to victories at competitions, but is dealing with a divorce after learning his wife, Terri, faked a pregnancy to save their marriage. Using such a dramatic measure as wearing a prosthetic bump for 9 months is not something you hear about often, unfortunately, infertility is…one in every 10 couples in the U.S. are infertile.  This statistic translates to 6 million people having trouble conceiving a child. Reproductive specialists define infertility as the inability to get pregnant after 12 months of unprotected sex.  Most reproductive endocrinologist would recommend seeing a specialist if you’re over 34 and haven’t conceived after 6 months.  If you’re interested in finding a reproductive endocrinologist, please look through The AFA's Physican's Networkto find an infertility center near you.

The star of New Directions is Rachael Berry.  Rachael lives with her two dads who had their daughter through egg donation and surrogacy.  Recently, Rachael found her birth mother who told her she accepted money in exchange for not contacting Rachael until she was 18. The two realize their reunion isn’t what they imagined, and decide, for the time being, a relationship would be too complicated. They say farewell through Lady GaGa’s popular song, Poker Face.  With the help of technology, such as egg and sperm donation, and a growing network of surrogate agencies, same sex couples and single patientshave the ability to be parents.  The AFA supports all people in their family building journey, and provide information on LGBT Family Buildingand third party reproduction.

Lastly, high school wouldn’t be complete without a teen pregnancy. Head cheerleader and ironically, President of the Celibacy Club, Quinn Fabray, finds herself in a pickle when she gets pregnant not by her long-time boyfriend, Finn Hudson, but bad boy, Mohawk- sporting Puck.  She decides to give the baby up for adoption.  Many couples begin their family building journey with hopes of conceiving a baby, but after failed infertility treatments, look in a “New Direction”- adoption.  Adoptions by lesbians and gay men are becoming increasingly popular; unfortunately, there are still legal and social discriminations. Adoption is a wonderful option and opportunity for many hopeful parents and The AFA is happy to provide resources on the adoption processand helpful agencies.

I’m a gleek for so many reasons. I love the songs, the characters and am thrilled the show is highlighting family building options.  This demonstrates infertility is no longer a taboo topic, but an accepted reality many people will face.  Times are changing, and it’s exciting to see these issues woven into the plotline of a primetime TV show.  Even if you have to fight over the remote, tune into the Glee finale next Tuesday night, and come join the winning team. My husband will eventually learn that I’m always right…

Comments

[Ken Mosesian]

Let it go, Brian. It's just easier. Trust me. I know.

[Corey Whelan]

The two of you are meshuga.

[brian armentrout]

This is a wonderful blog entry, Mer. You raise a lot of good points, but I'm still guarding the remote with my life. :)