'My Big Fat Fabulous Life': Do Whitney and Tal Adopt?

When it comes to season finales, My Big Fat Fabulous Life’s fifth season seemed just to fizzle out. For a season that dealt heavily with Buddy Bell’s cocaine addiction, his break-up with Heather Sykes, and continued pressure from Whitney’s parents to find a man and procreate, the finale was flat and anticlimactic.

The biggest revelation, if it can even be called that, came at the end when Whitney revealed that she and new roommate Tal Fish were discussing the possibility of adoption. With Whitney in her 30s and her old-fashioned father, Glenn, pressing for a grandchild, Whitney reveals her desire to avoid the typical rigamaroo of finding a suitor and simply adopt. Though the My Big Fat Fabulous Life star didn’t mention it, her weight would statistically put her at an increased risk during pregnancy, which further supports her idea of adopting a child with her level-headed friend, Tal.

Acting as sort of a cliffhanger for the as-of-yet unannounced sixth season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, viewers were left wondering if adoption really was in Whitney and Tal’s future. Unless the pair have found a way to keep it completely private and still enjoy the luxuries of things like the “No Body Shame at Sea” cruise scheduled in November 2018, it’s highly unlikely that they’ve followed through with the plan.

Much of season five was filmed from summer to fall of 2017, leaving a four-month gap between when she contemplated adopting and the airing of the episode. While her social media isn’t a great indicator of her intent to adopt as she’d likely be contractually obligated to keep material from the current season private until after the episode aired, her posts and future schedule can be seen as evidence that it’s not the first thing on her mind. It seems unlikely that she’d schedule a week-long promotional event the same year she was considering the adoption process.

Announcement photo for "No Body Shame at Sea" cruise

Whitney also tends to update her Instagram account as the season progresses. For instance, she posted images from her Hawaii trip in late February 2018 despite the trip having been around August 2017. It would stand to reason, then, that if she were still considering it, she would have acknowledged the idea on her Facebook or Instagram account.

During the episode, Tal, who lost his father to Parkinson’s the same night the finale aired, had mentioned his desire to adopt with a romantic partner, but later concedes to the idea of raising a child with his roommate. “I’ve put such an emphasis on romance and trying to find a partner for so long in my life and it just hasn’t happened yet, so I can totally redefine what family means to me,” he stated in a side interview during the episode.

Chances are if there is any progress in what is now the “adoption storyline,” it will re-emerge during My Big Fat Fabulous Life’s inevitable sixth season.