Odd but it didn't have to be

Coming out on DVD and Blu-ray this holiday season is the film The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

The story is about Cindy and Jim Green; they’re portrayed as one of the 7.3 million infertile couples in America who desperately wants to have children.

Jim suggests to his wife that she write down all the characteristics and qualities she would love to have in a child. They bury the piece of paper and a rainstorm that hovers over their house waters the newly planted note.

Shortly thereafter a ten-year-old boy named Timothy Green sprouts from the earth. He is the culmination of all they desired. Of course the couple wants to legally adopt him but run into problems and are unable to do so. As most feel-good movies go, the story does end well and we won’t spoil the ending for you.

But the story didn’t have to be odd.

We would have written it this way.

A couple meets with their doctor and is told they can’t have children. Instead of deep despair they find hope and their own bundle of joy courtesy of a loving surrogate.

Ours would be a shorter movie and certainly not quite as interesting as a boy that sprouts from the ground. But the good news is our version is played out nearly everyday for families all across the world and isn’t the least bit odd.

So go ahead and watch the movie. Just know that Timothy Green’s life didn’t have to be an odd one and normal alternatives like surrogacy exists to alter how a family’s story ends.