Family Law Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Baby Off Board
Laura Nowak
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The heartwrenching cases during National Adoption Month continue.
Watching the prospective adoptive birth parents and the birth mom argue over Kirin's fate on Family Law Season 1 Episode 6 tugged at our heartstrings.
This wasn't a typical adoption case either. Kirin was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, prompting Ajay and Jane to want to give the baby back.
We've seen this story before where prospective adoptive parents worry the child's medical condition will be too much for them. As someone who was adopted as a baby, this breaks my heart.
My adoptive parents discovered I had certain medical conditions when I was an infant, and they never returned me. That particular TV storyline is always tricky for me since I believe what Abby and Lucy think that they committed that child.
Regardless of specialists or surgeries, that child is bonded to them. Abby doesn't want them to make that decision lightly and suggests they talk to Lucy.
Lucy: Every other major life decision you can back out of—sell a house, get divorced. But a baby, you’re in it for life.
Harry: I don’t know, are you? They thought they were getting a healthy kid. They were sold a false bill of goods.
Jerri: We’re not talking about a defective blender, Harry. This is a baby.
Ajay seemed more concerned about advancing his company, while Jane was grieving losing Kirin after already suffering three miscarriages.
Jane: We were both there when Kirin was born. It was a dream come true.
Ajay: Now, we need to come to terms with the end of that dream.
It seemed like Ajay never bonded with Kirin as Jane did, so not surprisingly, Jane decided to keep Kirin.
This case became more heartbreaking since Ajay became angry that his wife wouldn't be around to serve his needs and support his business and threatened to divorce her if she went through with Kirin's adoption.
Ajay played dirty and said Jane was depressed after three miscarriages, so he only agreed to the adoption because he was afraid she'd harm herself. He wanted to make her look insane and crazy, which only angered her and made her more determined.
While Harry only wanted to win over Ajay's lawyer, Phil Sterling, Abby cautioned Jane to consider Kirin's financial needs.
Jane, after everything he’s done I wouldn’t want anything to do with either. But you need to think of Kirin. It’s going to be brutally expensive raising him in the city, especially if you take extended time off for his medical care.
Abby
Bringing the birth mom late in the game complicated matters further. She didn't want Kirin back. She wanted him to be raised in a two-parent home, which she thought would be more stable. In most cases, she'd be correct, but Kirin has medical issues.
Not as many families are as willing to take on a special needs child. Those parents are rare and unique. Jane was willing and should still be considered, even if she was a single mom.
How easy do you think it’s going to be to find two perfect parents to care for a baby as sick as Kirin, parents as devoted as she is?
Abby
It would be challenging to tear Kirin away from the only mother he's bonded with and put him in an unstable environment where there is no guarantee he'd get adopted.
Daniel felt so much pressure that he missed a key point of information. Ajay changed his name. Thank goodness for Harry's investigators.
His family was wealthy, and he received a 20 K monthly allowance, meaning he could afford to give Jane and Kirin cash support.
He was just cheap, and he thought his wife was easily conned.
Obviously, Ajay and Jane were never a good fit; sadly, Kirin had to suffer feeling unwanted.
The adoption case also affected the Svensson family and sparked some debates. While Harry eventually helped Jane, he understood that the Bhadus weren't given a healthy baby and might feel overwhelmed.
Since his recent break-up, Daniel respected them for changing their minds before it was too late. He changed his mind later during the divorce and custody proceedings.
What good is honoring a commitment for the sake of commitment if they can see it’s not going to work?
Daniel
Harry was clueless. He thought Kirin might be better off in a two-parent home until his children reminded him they were all raised by single moms.
Harry was old school and thought he did well as long as his children were clothed, fed, and had braces. He never gave Daniel or Abby much affection.
Daniel has become obsessed with making Harry proud and becoming a partner in the firm. Daniel has always craved Harry's approval, and Harry routinely ridiculed Daniel for taking sad, collaborative cases instead of ones that brought in lots of cash.
Daniel: You need a partner, Dad. No one is as committed to this firm or you or everything you built as I am.
Harry: Leave it with me. I’ll consider it.
I wondered if Daniel became engaged to Danielle to garner family approval since she meshed with the Svenssons well. Daniel's motivations were two-fold--he was avoiding his house and grieving and did want to look out for his dad.
While Lucy was the favored child, she was the one who struggled the most with the idea of kids. Lucy enjoyed her work but didn't want to mess up some child's life like many parents.
Even though Lucy and Maggie appear to have a solid marriage, Lucy still wanted to spread her wings.
Technically, the entire Svensson family could use counseling. Abby initially didn't want to take therapy seriously, but she discovered some interesting tendencies.
Dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships run in her family, and so does using children as ping-pong balls. If Joanne kept Abby from seeing Harry, including a trip to Disneyland, would Abby realize her dad wasn't the only bad guy?
Abby and Frank need to get on the same parenting page before they confuse their children even more. While Abby may have overreacted to finding Justin and Sofia together, she's still Sofia's mother and should be involved in the discipline.
Abby shouldn't be treated as the black sheep constantly. Her opinions matter, and raising teen daughters is never easy. It takes a village.
Over to you, Family Law Fanatics. Did the adoption battle tug at your heartstrings? What will Abby do after seeing Lucy cheat on Maggie?
Do you think Joanne kept Abby away from Harry? Chime in below in the comments.
If you missed an episode, you could watch Family Law online via TV Fanatic.
Family Law airs at 8/7c on Sundays on The CW.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.
