Avery MacLean

Avery MacLean, the Whittakers’ obstetrician, helps turn Maribeth’s pregnancy from an isolated crisis into a series of medical and family decisions she can make with support. His care includes arranging her examination, respecting her confidence, and seeking suitable adoptive parents; his work ultimately connects Maribeth’s plan to give up her daughter with the Whittakers’ adoption of Kate.

Identity and Background

After the death of the previous doctor, Dr. Thompson, Avery MacLean had served as Liz Whittaker’s obstetrician for years and had delivered both of her children. The novel presents him as a distinguished, white-haired physician whose courtly, formal manner coexists with up-to-date medical practice. Liz likes and trusts him, and Tommy knows that she has relied on his care over time.

That established relationship makes MacLean an accessible source of help when Tommy realizes Maribeth needs to see a doctor. The significance of his role rests not on a personal history with Maribeth, whom he has not yet met, but on the confidence the Whittakers already place in his professional care.

Meeting Maribeth and Tommy

Tommy secretly obtains his mother’s address book and telephones MacLean’s office to make an appointment for Maribeth. To get her seen, he presents himself as her husband and gives the name Mr. Robertson, saying that the couple have recently moved to Grinnell and that his wife needs a checkup. MacLean’s nurse accepts the account and schedules them.

At the appointment, MacLean initially addresses them as Mr. and Mrs. Robertson. In the waiting room, Tommy has already found the situation uncomfortable; once the doctor asks how long they have been married, Maribeth stops sustaining the cover story. She explains that she is not married, that the husband she had claimed to have died in Korea, and that she is five months pregnant. She also makes clear that Tommy is her friend and that he brought her to the doctor because he thought she should be examined.

MacLean responds soberly rather than dismissing them. He recognizes that Maribeth has tried to protect Tommy by maintaining the false story, and he sees the honesty with which she corrects it. He is sorry for the predicament facing the two teenagers and asks whether they intend to marry; both say no. His attention to their circumstances gives the appointment room for disclosure rather than allowing the invented marriage to dictate the terms of their care.

Confidentiality and Recognition

MacLean suspects that Tommy may be the baby’s father, despite Maribeth’s insistence that they are only friends. The text presents this as the doctor’s inference from how much Tommy cares about her, not as a fact about the pregnancy: Maribeth identifies him as a friend, and the narrative does not make him the father.

As he looks at Tommy, MacLean gradually recognizes him from a previous encounter. He had seen Tommy at Annie’s funeral but had not at first recalled where he knew him from. Once the memory returns, he addresses him as Tommy Whittaker and confirms his identity. MacLean is pleased that Tommy has brought Maribeth to him, and is willing to share their secret so long as neither teenager is harmed and he has no compelling reason to tell Tommy’s parents. That promise of discretion makes his professional role consequential in a family story already marked by private grief and estrangement.

Finding an Adoption Placement

MacLean’s work extends beyond the first examination. Liz later asks whether he has identified a couple to adopt Maribeth’s baby, knowing that Maribeth intends to relinquish the child and that the arrangement must be settled before the birth. MacLean has considered three couples, but none is yet a clear choice. One prospective father has admitted to a drinking problem, which makes the doctor reluctant to place a baby with them. A second couple has just learned that they conceived a child of their own; the third may not want to adopt, and he has not yet spoken with them.

The uncertainty becomes urgent when Maribeth tells him there are only two weeks left. She does not want to take the baby home and then surrender her, and she believes bringing the child back to the Whittakers would impose too much on them. MacLean reassures her that they will find someone and says that, if necessary, the baby can remain in the hospital for a couple of weeks while they continue looking. His response recognizes the difference between simply arranging an adoption and finding parents Maribeth can accept as suitable.

Birth, Adoption, and Narrative Significance

When Maribeth’s labor ends in the birth of a daughter, MacLean is present as the doctor. The baby is turned the wrong way for part of the delivery, and forceps are used; after the difficult labor, the newborn cries and is shown to Maribeth. Still groggy, Maribeth immediately identifies the child as Liz’s little girl, while MacLean gently corrects her: the baby is Maribeth’s daughter. He then hands the child to Liz, making the distinction between biological motherhood and the intended adoptive relationship explicit at the moment the adoption takes shape.

MacLean’s involvement continues through the arrangements after the birth. Maribeth signs adoption papers three days after Kate is born, waiving the waiting period; she is given an explanation of the documents before signing. The Whittakers proceed with adopting the child, while Maribeth is allowed time to mourn and is not asked to see the baby on the day she signs. MacLean’s medical and placement work thus supports an arrangement built around Maribeth’s stated decision, even as the separation carries a real emotional cost.

His role also helps connect the novel’s two family histories. He first knows the Whittakers through Liz’s medical care and remembers Tommy from Annie’s funeral; he then cares for Maribeth, whose baby will become Kate, the Whittakers’ adopted daughter. The story gives him no private resolution beyond this work, but his combination of medical competence, discretion, and attention to the prospective parents’ circumstances makes him an essential intermediary in the family’s new beginning.