Basic Trope: When a couple wants a child and struggles to conceive, it never occurs to them that they could adopt a child.
- Straight: Alice and Bob want a child, but find out that it is hard for them to conceive one. The idea of them adopting a child is never brought up.
- Exaggerated:
- The doctor tells Alice and Bob that they're infertile despite them wanting a child.
- Alice and Bob have been trying for a baby for years now.
- Most of Alice's friends have adopted children, but she still doesn't consider it when struggling to conceive.
- Downplayed:
- Alice and Bob already have a kid, so them not conceiving doesn't mean that they have no children.
- Alice and Bob adopt Carol, Bob's love child from a previous relationship he had.
- When Alice and Bob have difficulty conceiving, Bob's brother dies, leaving the two to raise his surviving children.
- Justified:
- Alice and Bob were raised under backgrounds which despise adoption of any kind.
- Alice had to give a baby up for adoption as a teenager and is emotionally unstable over it, so adopting a child might add salt to the wound.
- Alice and Bob have only been trying for a month, and will only consider adoption if they can't conceive a child after several more months.
- King Bob comes from a royal family that only allows people with their bloodline to inherit the throne.
- Alice and Bob can't find any adoption agencies near them.
- Alice and Bob have tried to adopt in the past, but were denied permission.
- Inverted:
- Alice and Bob are a fertile couple, but still insist on adopting children.
- Alice becomes pregnant from her boyfriend by accident, but never considers giving the baby up for adoption.
- Subverted:
- Alice and Bob end up adopting a child anyway.
- Their friend Dan suggests that they adopt a child.
- Double Subverted:
- The adopted child dies.
- The adopted child's birth mother wants the child back, so Alice selflessly returns the child.
- Alice and Bob turn down the idea of adopting.
- Parodied: When Alice and Bob have problems conceiving a child of their own, they receive a Doorstep Baby. They wonder why it was sent to their house while they send it to the local orphanage.
- Zig Zagged:
- Alice ends up pregnant through another man.
- Bob ends up getting a woman pregnant.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo.
- Averted:
- Alice and Bob end up having their baby at some point, so adoption is moot.
- Alice adopts a child after realizing that she is having difficulty conceiving.
- Enforced:
- The work is against adoption, and proves it by having a couple wanting babies, finding out they're infertile, then immediately ditch their plans for children.
- The show could not find a baby actor despite already planning an arc where Alice and Bob have a child, so they decide to stop it at Alice and Bob finding out how hard it is to make the baby.
- Lampshaded: "If you and Bob are having trouble getting pregnant, then why don't you two just adopt a child?"
- Invoked: Alice's mother tells her that she wants a biological grandchild, not an adopted one.
- Exploited: Alice gets pregnant after a few years of trying for a baby, and learns a lesson about patience because of it.
- Defied: Alice and Bob are both sterile but wants kids, so they immediately decide to adopt a kid, even if their loved ones are against adoption.
- Discussed:
- "If you didn't get pregnant, would you have considered adoption or would you not even think about it as a choice?"
- "Alice, if I don't get you pregnant, then we can talk about the other choices."
- Conversed: "Another couple is childless because of infertility? Will someone please introduce them to adoption?"
- Implied:
- Alice and Bob talk about how they might be getting a new child. Despite this, Alice never gets pregnant.
- When Alice and Bob find out that they can't have a child through natural means, they use IVF or a surrogate mother.
- Deconstructed: Alice and Bob are completely saddened that they can't have a child in any way, shape, or form.
- Reconstructed: Alice and Bob earn emotional support and learn that not every couple needs a child.
- Played for Laughs: Bob tells Alice that he wants a baby. Alice reminds him that she can't get pregnant because of her athletic career, and even adds that her family won't let her adopt a child.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice and Bob try as hard as they can to have a biological child, but when all attempts fail, they are both disheartened by the fact that they can't have their child unless they adopt one from the orphanage.
- Carol is an orphan who has remained parentless for years because couples would much rather have biological children.
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