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Episode 222: “Birthmarks”

Episode 222: “Birthmarks”
Original Air Date: May 11, 1996
Written by: Ken LaZebnik
Directed by: Peter Hunt
Produced by:

Martha Williamson
Jon Andersen
Robert J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:
Whit Russell William Daniels
Michael Russell David Naughton
Penny Russell Barbara Alyn Woods
Jolene Kathie Lee Gifford

Michael Russell is dying of cancer, a fact his father finds hard to accept. A potter by trade, Whit is skeptical of technology and persuaded his son to leave city life for the family farm once his illness was diagnosed. Unbeknownst to Whit, Michael and Penny have undergone gamete fertilization, a process enabling Jolene to be the surrogate mother for their baby. Believing the pregnancy to be unnatural, Whit vows to have no part in raising his grandchild.

Subsequent to one of his tirades, Jolene disappears. As Michael’s health deteriorates, the situation looks increasingly grim, especially when Andrew, the Angel of Death, arrives. Using a clever metaphor, Monica gently convinces Whit to accept the non-traditional pregnancy. Michael dies just as his son is born, and as his bereaved family visits the grave, Tess arrives in the Cadillac with Jolene and the baby in tow. The surrogate gives the infant to his mother, who laments that Michael never got a chance to hold his son. Tess comforts Penny by pointing out that he has a birthmark–a kiss from his father.

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