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After last season, daytime soap operas have decided to stop using pregnancy as a storyline. The idea was under consideration due to the season's unbelievable abuse of that part of the narrative. Taking into account 5 daytime soaps that spanned 1 year, there were a total of 62 pregnancies including 9 by men, 3 by miracles and a midget. "Days of Our Lives" writer Michael Jacobson states, "the statistics say everything, pregnancy is overused, we need to come up with different material, like divorce or alcohol abuse."

Avid watcher of 4 different soaps, Julianne Kramer says that she didn't notice that every woman on General Hospital has had at least 2 children, 40% of those illegitimate. "I love to watch soaps and I don't have a day job so I guess I like to see kids and babies." Other soap watchers had similar things to say, mostly that they didn't notice that all the characters were extremely fertile.

Another issue that has plagued last season of soap operas is the incredible rate of growth for the children. After having the kids, they send them away to school for the season. After one season of school the child goes from 10 to 17 and nobody else on the show seems to notice. Tim Junstoe, a regular soap opera viewer says, "I can't believe none of the other people, including the mom and dad of the kid, notice these unusual growth rates, if it was my kid I'd send him to a doctor or something." Soaps seem to have many troubles these days as long running programs struggle for new material. So far it appears to be old material with new characters. Next season has promised new innovations and creative storylines, Jacobson says, "only in extreme cases of writers block will we use pregnancy this coming year."