Season 4, Episode 13
Directed by Dennis Smith
Written by Marissa Matteo, Sarah H Haught, Chamblee Smith, & Steven Paul Martinez
Child Of Mine
Bull is requested to help sue a fertilization clinic after a white couple, who were unsuccessful in having a baby on their own, end up with a black son. Although the case is open-and-shut, it gets the attention of the biological father, a successful businessman who has undergone similar difficulty in having a child with his wife.
- Abusive Parents: The white husband has been going to anger management therapy (despite not actually suffering from it) because his own father was physically abusive, and he doesn't want to even risk being like that with his own family.
- Adoption Conflict: The custody hearing for baby Joseph drives the plot of the episode.
- Babies Make Everything Better: The white couple's failure to conceive caused a strain in their marriage that nearly caused the wife to file for divorce. She changed her mind barely two hours later, ripping up the papers. That same day she found out the in vitro worked and that she was pregnant.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: One of the key issues in the paternity suit is that family court is handled solely by a judge, meaning that there is no jury for Bull's team to analyze or manipulate.
- Malicious Slander: Although the opposing side has good intentions, their lawyer's arguments are focused on proving the white family is not good enough to deserve custody, citing moments such as a brief outburst the man had as a teenager that she claims makes him liable to follow in his abusive father's footsteps.
- Platonic Co-Parenting: Despite the unorthodox solution presented by Bull, the couples are going to attempt to raise both children together. By the end, it's clear that both sides have buried the hatchet and are working towards becoming friends.
- Scary Minority Suspect: One of the biological father's arguments is that, cynical as it sounds, there are racists in places of authority that could one day turn the black son into one of these, and the child would be better off with a black parent's guidance for such matters than with a white family that have no experience with the subject.
- Switched at Birth: Actually, switched before birth in this case; a fertilization clinic mix-up led to a black child to be born to white parents. Bull is able to handle that case before the opening credits, with the main focus of the episode being the subsequent paternity suit from the biological father and his wife, who have a financial advantage.
- Take a Third Option: With the knowledge that the biological father's wife will never naturally produce a child due to ovarian cancer, and that both sides are motivated solely by wanting what's best for the infant, Bull is able to convince both families to share custody, as well as have the mother donate some of her biology so the other family can have a child of their own.
