Laura's
Pregnancy
GENERAL
HOSPITAL
From Soap Opera Digest - April 12, 1994
Editors' Choice honors those events, trends or episodes on daytime that we just loved. See if you agree.
| It's not often that an
actress's pregnancy works as beautifully into her storyline as Genie Francis's
does on GENERAL HOSPITAL. Two years ago when Jacklyn Zeman was pregnant,
Bobbie spent the entire nine months walking around General Hospital in
an oversized lab coat hiding her stomach with a clipboard. (GH didn't have
much choice, since Bobbie is unable to have children.) After Zeman
gave birth, Bobbie went to a spa, where she learned to control her "eating
habits."
Fortunately, GH viewers will get
to share Laura Spencer's impending motherhood with her -- this character
won't be hiding behind potted plants for the next six months. Mrs.
Spencer may be the most happily married woman on daytime, so it is a joy
to watch her slowly figure out what was going on (we wondered what all that crying was about!) with help
from her new pal, Mary Mae. Then we watched an excited Laura break the
news to an even
|
 (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Genie Francis) everywhere but the maternity ward. |
For story purposes, the baby works even better. Laura was able to pull Sonny aside to confide her pregnancy to him, giving Sonny one more reason to keep Frank Smith from killing Luke during the prison breakout. It also put pressure on Luke's sister, Bobbie, to get information from Damian about Jennifer, causing a major wrinkle in the Jones's marriage. Luke and Laura's desire to finally break free of Frank was fueled by this pregnancy: Would they have gone to all the trouble to go to Atlantic City and get dirt on Jennifer if they weren't protecting their unborn child?
The audience missed Lucky's birth, since he was born off-screen after the Spencers left Port Charles. The best part about this plot is that viewers will get to watch Luke and Laura welcome their second child into the world. And, in a round-about way, share Genie Francis's joy as well.
