Can anyone ever just be happy on Grey's Anatomy? There seems to be a curse cast over the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, dooming couples to break up, family members to die, and doctors to get cancer/hit by a bus/shot by a madman. If I worked there, I would get as far away as possible — I'm with Cristina, Switzerland sounds like a nice alternative. (She always was the smartest one in the room, wasn't she?) So it really shouldn't have come as a surprise when Dr. Edwards discovered during a routine ultrasound that April and Jackson's baby had a horrific congenital defect that all but guarantees a painful death within minutes of birth. And yet somehow it did. You always know how to pull one over on us, Shonda Rhimes. *shakes fist*
How will April and Jackson handle this particularly cruel twist of fate? That's a big question looming over the show's return from its midseason hiatus. So far, April seems to be handling it by diving headfirst into work and Jackson seems to be handling it by trying to coddle April... which of course drives her crazy. What do the writers have in store for the newlyweds? There are three main facets to explore here: the couple's decision about what to do, the baby's ultimate fate, and how the experience will affect April's faith.
The Decision: Will April Continue The Pregnancy?
April Kepner is very religious, but after finding out that there's a 99 percent chance her baby boy will die horribly only minutes after giving birth to him, it seems that she is considering whether or not she should continue the pregnancy. The description for Episode 11, titled "All I Could Do Was Cry," describes how "April and Jackson face a tough decision concerning their unborn baby."
April's faith has always been very important to her; how will it affect her decision about what to do in this situation? Will she stick to her guns and continue her pregnancy despite the risks? Or will she make a still-controversial-for-broadcast-television decision and terminate her pregnancy?
The Fate: Will The Baby Die Or Be Saved?
If she does choose not to terminate, there's a very good chance the baby will die. It seems that no matter what she and Jackson decide, this baby won't survive... except this is Grey's Anatomy we're talking about. Saving Kepner's baby wouldn't be the first medical miracle performed in the decade-long history of the show.
There are eight types of osteogenesis imperfecta (the brittle bone disorder the baby was diagnosed with); their descriptions range from "mild" to "deforming" to "severe" to "lethal." Maybe it will turn out that the baby's disorder is of a less life-threatening type and — while the parents will undoubtedly still have a struggle ahead of them — the baby could actually survive childbirth.
April's Faith: Shaken Or Reaffirmed?
Whether the baby survives or not, there's no question that this whole experience will have a profound affect on April's relationship to her faith. At the end of the most recent episode, "Where Do We Go From Here?," April was already questioning why God would allow such a thing to happen. (She was also upset about a woman who had appeared to drive her car, with her children in it, off a bridge; it turned out the woman had a tumor that affected her thinking.)
Perhaps the death of her baby will be the start of a remarkable character transformation for April, as she begins to deeply question her faith. On the other hand, this could just be a crucible through which April must journey before coming out on the other side with her faith stronger than ever. The second option seems more likely. April's portrayer, 34-year-old Sarah Drew, is herself a devout Christian — it wouldn't surprise me if she and the series' writers wanted to take this opportunity to tell a story about how horrific experiences can, in fact, affirm one's faith.
After a particularly rocky start to Season 11, someone needs to come out the other side in a positive place. And although the death of a child could by no means be classified as "positive," April and Jackson emerging from such a tragedy stronger than ever would at least be worth all the pain and tears along the way.
Image: Eric McCandless/ABC
