The Great Adoption Traveling Show

Adoption has become one of the favorite topics of our daily dramas, fondly known as soaps. While all major networks are taking their best shots, ABC has really outdone itself with Adoption on Tour.

Seat belts fastened? We're off and running.
[Times shown are my local station schedules.]



It all starts at 12:30PM with Port Charles and fruitcake Julie Morris-Devlin-Ramsey (the lovely Lisa Ann Hadley) who, we were led to believe, was delusional and about to give birth to a pillow. The pillow turned out to be a baby, Christina. Julie, of course, couldn't keep Christina since she was arrested for murder and kept under lock and key in a mental health care facility. So Christina was adopted, we were led to believe, by Lucy and Scott (who didn't know Julie was the birthmother), but it turns out Scott is the only one who actually became an adoptive parent because he and Lucy weren't married. Now Julie's birthmother status has been revealed and she wants her parental rights.

Got it so far? OK. Now forget about Port Charles for a minute.

Fast forward to One Life to Live (2:00PM) where my favorite soap star, Rae Cummings (the multi-talented Linda Dano), reveals that she gave birth to a daughter who was placed for adoption (possibly black market and an unsuccessful sting operation takes up a couple of scenes) in some vague and shadowy past.

In pursuit of the identity and possible location of her child, Rae leaves Llanview and One Life for Pine Valley and All My Children (1:00PM).

In Pine Valley, while scouring through basement archives at "the Home", she encounters the feisty Myrtle Fargate (veteran actress Eileen Herlie) who is also searching for adoption records from the same home. Rae discovers that she herself was adopted (note for the sportsfans: a late discovery adoptee) and that Myrtle is her birthmother. She adjusts miraculously quickly, falls into Myrtle's arms and calls her "Mama" and a tender, tearful reunion follows which sets off the volatile Erica Kane (fabulous Susan Lucci) for whom Myrtle has been a mainstay of love and support. Jealous rages ensue.

What better time for our as-yet-unreunited-birthmother Rae to continue her quest? She learns that the maternity home records were recorded in a Bible, the Bible leads to a desk, the desk leads to an antiques dealer from whom (adoptee) Carly Benson-Quartermaine (award-winning actress Sarah Brown) bought it as a gift for our favorite bad-guy Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard of the beautiful eyes) over at General Hospital (3:00PM).

Still with me?

Rae learns that the Bible was taken from the desk and could have been donated to the hospital, so we're off to the hallowed halls of healing. Rae arrives at the hospital and innuendo starts to fly as old relationships are revealed and... maybe, well just maybe... a member of one the soaps' dysfunctional families of the year, Hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Alan Quartermaine (long-time GH star Stuart Damon), is somehow connected to Rae's search. After all, we don't know who the father of her child might have been, do we? And we are left hanging - ever so dramatically - as Rae bites her lip and refrains from saying anything as she exits in a flurry of elegance.

And oh, did I neglect to mention that General Hospital is located in the city of Port Charles?

In one particularly memorable marathon week, Dano - er, Rae - appeared on every show in a frenzy of soap-generated adoption bubbles.

Searchus Interruptus

With story lines including brain tumors, breast cancer, a fatal train wreck, brain-washing, resurrected husbands, and undercurrents of threats of murder and mayhem that are also going on, Rae's search isn't exactly on hold, but we are being treated to a presentation of several possibles for the role of birth daughter. With four shows to choose from, who do you think it could be?

Don't make up your mind too quickly. If the actress pegged for the honor decides to leave soap-land, it could really be a free-for-all!

Telling It Like It Is?

The crowning glory comes off-camera, off-ABC, in a serious article from CNN about story lines in the soaps and how much research was done about adoption in order to present it realistically. All My Children's head writer is quoted as saying,

"We just did a huge story line on adoption and so we had to research exactly what happens in an adoption, how the process goes and make sure we realistically (portray) what happens."

Oh my. So that's what really happens!

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