Declining the Request

Tessa questions if Mariah truly wants a future with her following Abby's surrogacy request. After months of no follow-up on her interrupted proposal, Tessa wonders if Mariah is looking to start their own next chapter together or if Abby is the priority. Mariah and Tessa have a legitimate discussion about how the surrogacy request may impact their relationship and lives.

Notes:
The current Y&R storyline is so offensive. I can't believe what they have done to Teriah. Y&R has failed to give Tessa a point of view; the limited dialogue she has seems ridiculous. There was no consideration given to the impact of surrogacy on Teriah's relationship or lives. That is completely unacceptable and unrealistic. In order for them to move forward, this would need to be addressed.

I tried to present a reasonable reaction to the request and discussion between Teriah. There is a bit of wish fulfillment here. I just want to pretend this happened instead of what we're being subjected to on screen. I'm writing a happy Teriah fic sequel.

Personal Notes:
As someone who relates to Teriah and has done reciprocal IVF with my wife, I find this storyline extremely disturbing. It robs these characters of something from their own future family building that isn't being acknowledged. Especially for LGBTQ couples, there are so many considerations in decisions around family building, especially if they decide to have children together.

Specifically for lesbian couples, regardless of who carries or who is genetically related to the baby, each mom would face a variety of complex feelings during and after pregnancy. Adding an experience of surrogacy (which is illegal for a first time pregnancy) to the mix adds a significant complexity that would need to be addressed. It's mindboggling Y&R would write this for a LGBTQ couple, especially in this manner with no legit discussion and Tessa barely present.

Thank you for reading or indulging me as this has become my coping mechanism to the storyline.