Where is Rachel's baby?

by NICOLE LAMPERT, Daily Mail

They became famous as the close-knit group whose friendship replaced the traditional family unit.

And as age creeps up on the characters in the hit TV comedy Friends, it appears family is still not allowed to get in the way.

After devoting just a few shows to character Rachel Green coping with the birth of a daughter, Emma, the baby appears to have completely disappeared from the new series, which is being shown in America.

Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston, continues dating, shopping and drinking in the coffee shop, all without her child.

Emma, whose father is fellow Friend Ross, played by David Schwimmer, is barely mentioned and is seen even less.

This is the third time a Friends character has given birth and pregnancy has always been a ratings winner for the show, set in New York. But once the children are born they all but vanish.

Ross had a son, Ben, with his first wife Carol at the start of the show, which is now ten years old.

But just before he was born, she ran off with another woman and Ben has barely been seen.

Phoebe, played by Lisa Kudrow, became the surrogate mother of her brother's triplets, but they have not appeared since she handed them over.

Since the disappearance of baby Emma, viewers and family rights organisations in the U. S. have complained to the programme's makers that they are painting an unrealistic picture of life as a single mother.

"If you look at Friends you would think that unprotected sex doesn't have any consequences," said Marisa Nightingale, of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Family lawyer Gloria Allred added: "Friends has disregarded the fact that having a baby is the most time consuming and hard job a parent ever has to go through.

"Teenagers watch this sitcom and may think the job of raising a baby is an easy one and that is rubbish.

"It takes great responsibility to raise a child and people who are responsible cannot go on with their lives as usual."

A show insider said: "The run up to having a baby on the show is always hugely popular with audiences. But unfortunately the reality of having a baby is not funny.

"We have had some complaints but we know that really our viewers are not interested in watching babies."

Ironically Friends - screened on Channel 4 in Britain - is already on to its next baby.

The big storyline of the new series focuses on Monica and Chandler's attempts to conceive through IVF.

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