A good friend betrayed me on Sunday. Someone I thought I could trust, but apparently not anymore.

That’s right, I was let down by ABC’s Brothers & Sisters.

How did this happen, you might ask, and why am I taking it so seriously? Well without going into too much detail, one of the characters on the show discovered that she is pregnant.

Now you might still be wondering why this is so devastating. It is because I currently watch four television shows regularly –  Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Ugly Betty – and every single one of these shows has now contained a storyline that involves one of the adult characters discovering that she “accidentally” got pregnant.

I realize that these are all fictional programs and writers need to reuse storylines for dramatic effect (which is why three of my shows also featured a cancer arc), but I find the rate of intended pregnancy on television (all of which happen to be on ABC) to be appalling, and perhaps, somewhat unrealistic.

Let’s take a look at these shows to see what they have in common. All of them follow the exploits of college-educated adults who are generally over the age of 23. All of them take place in or around major metropolitan areas. And none of the characters seem to have deep religious convictions, other than going to services occasionally. So based on these traits alone, I think it’s safe to say that most of the characters would have some understanding of sexual and reproductive health and contraception.

Then why are we having so many unintended pregnancies?!

Since these shows aren’t in the vein of Gossip Girl or 90210, where teenagers might just be exploring sexuality and learning about contraception, what kind of message does this send to viewers about safer sex? If we are to assume that the people on these shows do use condoms and birth control during sex, why are they still getting pregnant? Do these “accidents” unintentionally reinforce public fears that contraception isn’t effective and there is no such thing as safe sex? And even though condoms may only be 98% effective when used correctly, to have all of my shows include accidental pregnancies seems highly unlikely.

Something interesting is that, with only one exception, none of these unintended pregnancies were wanted pregnancies. And yet, the word “abortion” has never come up. It has been implied with knowing glances and dialogue, but then quickly dismissed. Nope, in the cases when a character doesn’t want a baby, it has nearly always ended with a violent and depressing miscarriage. So the second message being portrayed is that if you aren’t maternal, you will pay for it in the end!

What these writers could do to counteract these dramatic storylines is, perhaps, include conversations between the characters discussing how they wished they had used a condom. Or if abortion is off the table, include an adoption storyline, like Juno. That sure would be dramatic! Or at the very least, run condom commercials during the show. But maybe that last one is a little too real.