#’The Good Doctor’ Creator on Shaun and Lea’s Baby Drama Dilemma

Surgeon Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) is deft with a scalpel, but how’s his diapering technique? That’s just one skill set Shaun, a medical prodigy on the autism spectrum, will have to master if he and his IT expert live-in girlfriend, Lea (Paige Spara), decide to continue the pregnancy revealed in the March 8 episode of The Good Doctor.

“Every year we explore a new challenge, a new opportunity for Shaun,” says creator David Shore. “An unexpected pregnancy is both. It’s incredibly exciting, but are they ready for this? Is it the right time? We want both Shaun and Lea to explore that.”

Much of the episode is devoted to the couple weighing their options, including abortion. Far from keeping their situation a secret, the compulsively oversharing Shaun and more private Lea invite their colleagues’ counsel.

“Nobody says, ‘Oh, you have to do this’ or ‘You have to do that,’” Shore promises. “They are true friends in the sense that they go, ‘How can I help you better understand what you are feeling and make the best choice for you?’”

Whatever the couple decide, Shore wants to be clear about one thing: “Who Shaun is would make being a parent an additional challenge, but who Shaun is would also make him a great parent,” he says. “He has an honesty, a candor, a lack of judgment. He wants to do right by people.”

The Good Doctor, Mondays, 10/9c, ABC