"Unplanned Parenthood" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the American medical drama ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

''. It first aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on October 18, 2010.

Plot

The episode starts with Abbey (

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984 film), ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She earned wo ...

) giving birth to a baby in a hospital, in the company of her adult daughter Justine (

Gabrielle Christian Gabrielle Christian (born Gabrielle Christine Horchler; July 30, 1984) is an American actress and singer best known for her portrayal of Spencer Carlin in The N original series '' South of Nowhere'', and her portrayal of Colby Robson in the web ...

) who is later implied to be a result of an

unplanned pregnancy Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are mistimed or unwanted at the time of conception, also known as unplanned pregnancies. Sexual activity without the use of effective contraception through choice or coercion is the predominant cause o ...

. The baby experiences breathing problems, which House and his team conclude is caused by

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

secondary to a

liver failure Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute- ...

causing insufficient production of plasma proteins. They suspect

Caroli disease Caroli disease (communicating cavernous ectasia, or congenital cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic biliary tree) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by cystic dilatation (or ectasia) of the bile ducts within the liver. There are two patter ...

to be the underlying cause of the liver failure, but fail to confirm it, leaving the case still inexplicable. Meanwhile, following Cuddy's directive, House challenges Foreman and Taub to hire a female doctor to join the team. When Cuddy asks House to babysit her daughter, Rachel, both House and Wilson learn a few hard lessons in parenting. While babysitting, House is momentarily distracted by trying to leave Wilson to babysit Rachel, and Rachel makes a mess of his Chinese takeout food. Wilson pulls a coin from her mouth and fears she has swallowed the change from the Chinese food. House and Wilson surreptitiously keeps her under observation after they think that there is a dime missing from the change, but they later realize that they had miscalculated the bill and that all of the change was accounted for. House decides to buy time by transfusing the newborn with the mother's blood. The baby improves but the team is unsure why. The mother has

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

, a mole under her finger nail, which has been passed to the baby. She is unusually healthy for someone with late-stage melanoma, and the team discover it is because she also has

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

which is causing antibodies to be created which are fighting off the melanoma and giving her blood an added factor which helped the baby. The team recommends surgery to treat her lung cancer and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

for the baby, but she opts to postpone the surgery for nine days in order to continue transfusions until the baby fully recovers. She dies unexpectedly of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

, but her blood harvested at autopsy is enough to cure her baby. Justine, apparently having practically become an unplanned parent, holds her baby sister in her arms. Later, House and Cuddy are asleep and one has to go check on Rachel. House lets Cuddy do so, and over the baby monitor he hears Cuddy exclaim, "What? How did you eat a dime?" To which Rachel replies, "House", closing the episode with House's eyes opening in surprise.

Critical response

Zack Handlen at

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

rated the episode C+.

References

External links

"Unplanned Parenthood"
at Fox.com * {{House (TV series) House season 7 episodes 2010 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Greg Yaitanes Lung cancer in fiction fr:Saison 7 de Dr House#Épisode 5 : House-sitter