CHICAGO HOPE: BOYS WILL BE GIRLS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of medical dramas about the personal and professional lives of the staff of the state-of-the-art Chicago Hope Hospital and the ethical dilemmas they face.
In this episode, when a teenager is brought into the ER with a broken leg and lacerations, McNeil is surprised to discover that the patient is anatomically female despite short hair and boyish clothes. Elsewhere, Alberghetti tries to help an elderly woman, Emily Harding, whom she quickly recognizes to have dementia. McNeil is further confused when the teenager, identified as Debra Sederberg, seems to have a boy's skeletal structure. Debra furiously refuses to leave with her parents, Renee and Harvey, declaring that she cannot be their "perfect daughter" and threatening to commit suicide if not allowed to live as a boy. Emily's husband Miles rushes to her side, explaining that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is prone to wandering off; Simon wonders if Emily can be added to a clinical trial for a vaccine treatment for the disease.
When the doctors question the Sederbergs, Renee confesses that Debra was actually born a boy but, after being "mangled" in a botched circumcision, underwent reconstructive surgery and was raised a "normal" girl. Despite Harvey's protests, Renee finally tells her child the truth, and Debra is deeply relieved to know that he is "not a freak after all." McNeil tells the other doctors about the bizarre case, and Hanlon suggests giving Debra a phalloplasty to at least cosmetically reconstruct his original male genitals; Harvey maintains that Debra is his "daughter" and should not be altered. Watters reluctantly agrees to give Emily a "compassionate use" exception to enter the vaccine trial on the condition that Miles is made fully aware of the experimental nature of the treatment; lawyer Stuart Brickman advises the doctors to file a motion to override the Sederbergs' objection to Debra's surgery, as they do not seem to be acting in the child's best interest. Debra explains that, on the night of his injury, he confessed his romantic feelings to a friend, Jenny, who assumed Debra was a lesbian and coldly rejected him, prompting him to run away from home and into a dangerous situation with some rowdy men.
In court, the doctors argue in favor of giving Debra the surgery, with Hanlon explaining that she has performed three other phalloplasties on men who suffered severe trauma to their genitals, as Debra did. Emily receives her first round of shots; elsewhere, though Debra tries to explain that he has always instinctively felt like a boy despite his upbringing, Harvey angrily rants that parents should be the sole decision-makers for their children. Distressed, Debra decides to abandon the surgery and continue his unhappy "female" life; McNeil urges him to reason with his parents, and Harvey and Renee finally accept his decision. Simon and Alberghetti are shocked and saddened when Emily is accidentally struck and killed by a truck; Miles explains that she briefly remembered their long life together, possibly thanks to the vaccine, and expresses his gratitude for their "one good night." Hanlon performs Debra's surgery, and Harvey sadly tells Watters that he and Renee were "lost" after Debra's traumatic circumcision and accepted the doctor's drastic suggestion solely out of love for their child. Debra awakens with his parents by his side, and Simon reflects on Miles and Emily's enduring love for one another. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 121210
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection - Drama; Drama, medical; Alzheimer's disease; Gender identity
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1994-2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Pressman … Executive Producer
- Henry Bromell … Executive Producer
- Gardner Stern … Co-Executive Producer
- John Heath … Supervising Producer, Director
- Rob Corn … Producer
- Randy Anderson … Producer
- April Smith … Producer
- Dean White … Co-Producer
- Claire Bloom … Associate Producer
- Linda Klein … Associate Producer
- Sarah Werner … Associate Producer
- Marjorie David … Consulting Producer
- David E. Kelley … Consulting Producer, Created by
- Linda McGibney … Writer
- Roger Neil … Music by
- Mark Isham … Theme Music by
- Adam Arkin … Cast, Dr. Aaron Shutt
- Mark Harmon … Cast, Dr. Jack McNeil
- Lauren Holly … Cast, Dr. Jeremy Hanlon
- Mandy Patinkin … Cast, Dr. Jeffrey Geiger
- Rocky Carroll … Cast, Dr. Keith Wilkes
- Carla Gugino … Cast, Dr. Gina Simon
- Barbara Hershey … Cast, Dr. Francesca Alberghetti
- Hector Elizando … Cast, Dr. Phillip Watters
- Garrett M. Brown … Cast, Harvey Sederberg
- Mae Elvis … Cast, Debra Sederberg
- George D. Wallace … Cast, Miles Harding
- Patience Cleveland … Cast, Emily Harding
- Charles Homet … Cast, Scott Maloney
- Joanna Lipari … Cast, Brenda Steinberg
- Christine Estabrook … Cast, Renee Sederberg
- Alan Rosenberg … Cast, Stuart Brickman
- Haylie Duff … Cast, Jenny
- Zach Selwyn … Cast, Paramedic #1
- Angela Oh … Cast, Paramedic #2
- Michael Gilio … Cast, Paramedic #3
- Rachel Smith … Cast, Duty Nurse