[Music] [A Parthenon Picture] [Fair Chance] [Written and Produced by: Woodbury Conkling, Roger Clark; Executive Producer: Charles Palmer] c MCMLX, Parthenon Pictures] [Narrator:] This story begins ina hospital maternity wing, where the miracle of human birthis a daily commonplace, where sure, efficient, antisepticroutine rules all human life. All new and expecting mothers,all infants just arrived and soon to arrive, andall expectant fathers. For them, the maternityroutine is quite simple. First, you wait. Second, wait patientlyor look like it. And most important,keep from underfoot. The situation is funny,in a way, until you're the guy who's involved. But then when the importantthings are happening, even when it's your secondor third time around, you find you'reabsolutely useless. You feel like the 10thman on a baseball team. Who needs you? Wait and wait. Of course, she's all right. Kids are born every day. Of course, she's all right. [Cigarette vending machine] Little things popinto your head, like the light inyour first baby's eyes when she saw herfirst Christmas tree. And you wait. And you think of the otherside of the coin, the side that reads bills to payand responsibilities. And you go back towaiting all over again. And time passes very slowly. [Gentle music] But when the waiting is done,when the miracle has finally happened, everything changes. In one single moment, allthe pieces fit into place. That 10th man on theteam becomes the coach of the future all-time greats. You're needed. There's your wholefuture wrapped up in one tiny, eight-pound bundle. [Infant crying] This is what it's all about. This is how it was thenight our Helen was born, the night I met Joe Walton. My immediate plans included afast phone call to dad, another to Helen's folks inChicago, and then a sleep that would make Rip VanWinkle look like an insomniac. No plans for strangersnamed Joe Walton. The kid was having itrough, really rough. I could tell. Trying to cover, of course,but without much success. Well, what do you do? The vital statisticswere simple enough. Joe was 23 years old,presently unemployed, already the father of three. The real trouble lay inthe room down the hall. His wife, Doris, had beenin labor for 11 hours-- 11 hours. [Dark music] But even I knew this didn'tcheck out for the fourth child. Something was wrong. I knew it. [Fluttering music] [Dramatic musical sting] Well, at least, I waskeeping his mind off things. And as time passed, I learnedthat things for Doris and Joe were pretty mixed up. Maybe the intern'svisit was routine. Maybe it wasn't. Everything's goingto be all right, Joe. You just hold on. How do you answer thepanic in a man's eyes? There's nothing wrong,Joe, just a delay. It often takes longer than this. Why, my first one-- so you lie a little. Maybe it'll help. By now, Joe really neededsomeone to take over. And these four walls weredoing neither of us any good. I knew an all-nighteatery across the street where the hospital couldreach him as quickly by phone as if he stayed herein this sweat box. A quick call atthe reception desk, and we were across the street. [Café sign, fluorescent lighting] [Tense music] I've never been too strongin the big brother role, but tonight JoeWalton needed help. And maybe I wasthe guy to give it. Anyway, I was theonly guy around. His story had a familiar ring-- early marriage and a quicksuccession of kids, one a year since he and Doris were married. The first was a big event. And their parentshelped carry things. But with the second and thethird, they were on their own. But he'd make out if onlythings went right this time. It was then he cut loose. What was really eating thisguy was a paralyzing fear that Doris wouldn'tpull through. She had developeda kidney condition, and this pregnancywas really dangerous. And they'd known thedanger for a year. But what do you do, said Joe. The old story-- no one of theirchildren had been planned. Child spacing, Joedidn't understand. But he should understand. And I took the plunge andstarted in, the easiest way I could, with my own story. [Dreamy musical orchestration] The story started 20 years ago. [Dreamy musical orchestration] I was one of a family of eight. There were more children,but only six of us grew up. When you rub elbows with halfa dozen kids in your own home every day, there's not muchchance that any one of you will be spoiled. And that's good. But sometimes, there'snot much chance for-- well, for a lot of thingsthat each one of you needs from your parents. Even today, my early childhoodrecollections of my parents are disturbing. I couldn't understanda lot of things that went on around the house-- angry words at night whenI wasn't supposed to hear, insults that soundedreal and cruel. They were good, honestpeople, trying their best to provide a decenthome for all of us. But at 10, you can'trealize what it takes out of a man and woman trying tokeep eight people together on a bus driver's salary. At 10, you can'tbegin to appreciate the endless drudgery, thefatigue, and the deadening frustration that come withtoo many children and too little money. Now, 20 years too late, Iknow why they quarreled. But then, it sounded asthough the very people who were supposed to love me andbrought me into the world often wished I'dnever been born. I knew this wasn'tfair to any one of us. I made up my mind that if Iever had a family of my own, it would be a verydifferent one. [Music continues] When I was a kid,the word "delinquent" meant nothing more than delayed. Our neighborhood wascrawling with good kids who had a lot of fun together. But usually, I sat outmost of the excitement. Between babies, mymother had to work. And every one ofus older kids had to pitch in on the householdchores as soon as we were able. It's great to develop a senseof responsibility, I suppose. But when you have totake it on too young, you're liable to miss out ona lot of important living. One thing you learnearly in a big family, don't ask for expensivetoys or gifts. You're wasting your time. But, well, I can'tremember a time when I wasn't interested inbuilding or construction. And one day, Ispotted a toy that would make me the masterbuilder of all time. I never wanted anythingso hard in all my life. And this visit to the toy storewas very carefully staged. I was too young to realizehow much her refusal cost her. Only later, I beganto see how much she suffered when she had to turndown so important a request. [Music] Joe was listening hard. I knew bells were ringingall over the board for him. And he was trying tomake the connection. But the eatery phonebell was still quiet. Still no word of Doris. So I went on. [Eerie music] Time had passed. The older I became,the more I was convinced that myfuture lay somewhere in the business of building. I read and studied everythingI could lay my hands on. And finally, I decided Iwanted to be an architect. I guess I was prettygood in school-- high school. Each new accomplishmentconvinced me that I was well on my way. I could see now theywere proud of me and how pleased theywere with my success. But if I'd only lookeda little closer, I would have seensomething else. How they were beingtorn apart with worry over my expensive dreams. Where would the collegemoney come from? Would it hurt me toomuch when I came face on to the hard facts of life? [Mother shakes her head] [Fade to future, familygathered in living room] The hard facts caught up withall of us all of a sudden. My mother died-- too young. I always felt she was worn outfrom too many children, too much responsibility,and too much work. It didn't seem fair that a womanwho gave so much of herself couldn't have had a fewmore years, maybe even a chance for a littleplain enjoyment. But there it was. And added to it was anotherpersonal blow to me. To this day, I don't thinkany one of the family knows I was offered a fullscholarship in the fine arts department atHerndon University. It was my big chance to takea crack at those skyscrapers I wanted to build. But I couldn't seemyself at Herndon with dad trying toraise the family alone. I don't mind admittingthat decision hurt. I was even a little sore aboutthe whole deal for a while. But it wasn'tanybody's fault. Mother and dad had just letnature take its course. There were too many of us, andwe all took it on the chin. [Dreamy musical orchestration] And by now, Joe could seehimself and Doris sailing head on into the very same problem. But what could he do about it? Well, all right, plenty. For one thing, I told them aboutthe Planned Parenthood center downtown, where he couldget all the help he needed from experts. And it would cost him onlywhat he could afford to pay. Planned Parenthoodhad made it possible for us to have young Mikewhen we were ready for him. And the new littlelady across the street had arrived on our schedule,thanks to Planned Parenthood. [Music] Thanks to the architect I wasdoing drafting for back then, I'd been there with Helensoon after we were married. I went with her thefirst time on the excuse that she might be nervous. But I was really curious tofind out more about this group. In about 30 seconds, weboth discovered one thing. This was a verypleasant place indeed. Everyone on the staff tooktime out to be friendly. Helen was a little nervous, butshe began to relax immediately. And when she went offto find the nurse, I went out to look for aseat in the waiting room. Well there, too, theatmosphere was easygoing. Everyone had an intimatereason for being there. But instead of being awkwardor embarrassed about it, they were taking it asone of those things. Even the kids had a good time. [Waiting room information] I learned a lot ina very short time. And what it comes downto, Planned Parenthood believes that children whoare wanted and planned for are going to have a fairerchance in life than the kids who just appear on the scene. They were talking my language. Helen told me laterthat people came there for a variety of reasons-- to unlearn the back-fence gossipand find the medical facts about safe, reliablechild spacing methods, for advice andcounsel on all kinds of marriage problems. And another interesting partof the work that goes on here-- Planned Parenthood centers helpscores of childless couples have babies of their own. And Helen said, on anaverage, one out of three of these couples succeeds. Helen and the nursehit it off right away. It would be hard not to getalong with Miss Fitzgerald. She began talking babies,and it wasn't long before Helen realizedshe was sitting with a truly intelligent anddedicated member of the nursing profession. Her immediate job was totake Helen's medical history. And it was thorough andcomplete to the last detail. But there wasn't anyprying into our affairs, just the medicalfacts they needed to give us the help we wanted. Next, she met with Dr. Wilson,who discussed child spacing methods. Helen learned that the oneshe was most interested in was safe, reliable,painless, and harmless, and in no way affected herability to have children. It's amazing how many womengo through life ignorant of standard medical facts. But Dr. Wilson saw to it that,by the end of Helen's visit, she was not one of them. When our visit tothe center was over, we didn't need to say thanks. Thanks we're written allover Helen's face and mine. At last we knew we could havethe family we both wanted, when we were ready physically,emotionally, and financially, ready. [Light rousing music] It was early morning whenI finished up on Joe. Maybe I was doingthe boy some good. Maybe. [Payphone ringing] This was it. The next few moments couldmake or break this boy. [Payphone ringing] [Music] I hadn't prayed sohard since young Mike. [Dark music] [Dramatic musical sting] [Dark music] [Transition to uplifting music] [Joe smiles] [Mouths] "It's ok." [Uplifting music] The miracle hadhappened once again. A new day had begun. And with it, for Joe Waltonand Doris, a new chance. And for their children, a newkind of chance, a fair chance. [Fair Chance] [Through Planned Parenthood] [Music] [Parthenon Pictures c1960] [Music fades out]