It’s the Australian children’s show that is loved by parents as much as their kids and is receiving international recognition for its sensitive representation of diversity and often skirted around issues including friendship, parenting, pregnancy, even death. Now, Bluey is tackling infertility.
The latest season features an episode called Onesies, which reunites mum Chilli and her sister Brandy, who hadn’t spoken in years. There was certainly a story there, but few could have predicted it would be so heartbreaking and so relevant to many Australian families.
After coming over for a visit and giving her nieces Bluey and Bingo onesies as a present, it soon becomes awkward and is clear that Brandy feels uncomfortable.
Later in the episode, Bluey asks her mum why Brandy is sad and never visits. That’s when Chilli implies that her sister can’t have children:
“There’s something aunty Brandy wants more than anything… but she can’t have it, and there’s not really anything anyone can do.”
Gulp.
Director of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand, Manuela Toledo, told the ABC that the episode is a good way to start speaking with children about fertility.
“Every prep classroom has at least one or two children who are there as a result of fertility treatment, so it’s an incredibly common thing,” Dr Toledo said.
Yet, did you know that Onesies is not the first episode of Bluey to address the emotional impact of fertility and pregnancy loss?
In the season two episode The Show, Bingo puts on a show and pretends to be her mum. She tucks a balloon under her shirt to represent pregnancy, and it eventually pops. At that moment, Bandit reaches out and touches his wife’s hand.
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