‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Are Jo’s Money Problems Really That Unrealistic?
Grey’s Anatomy isn’t really known for its realism. After all, how many plane crashes can one group of people suffer through? The Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital team has been affected by two separate plane crashes, which seems way higher than average.
When Jo had money struggles and had to sell her shares in the hospital, some fans cried foul. Surely a doctor would have enough money to cover all necessary expenses?
Jo needed to sell her shares for a lawyer
In the most recent season finale of Grey’s, Jo decided to do whatever it took to adopt Luna, a sick baby she had been taking care of. That meant selling her hospital shares to get an adoption lawyer. Jo has been trying to adopt Luna for some time. Luna was a miracle baby who grew outside her mother’s uterus. She was delivered by surgery at 26 weeks gestation, which is dangerously premature.
Like many premature babies, Luna had her share of health scares in the first weeks of her life. Unfortunately, her mother never recovered from the surgery and died while Luna was still in the NICU. While she was in the hospital, Jo fell in love with her.
Jo decided to fight for custody of Luna and was eventually granted it. But custody was an uphill battle for Jo, and it meant liquidating her assets as much as possible to be able to afford a lawyer. Fans don’t think Jo’s money problems are realistic, given her impressive position at the hospital.
Fans think that Jo’s money problems are unrealistic
Grey’s fans on Reddit think that a surgeon at a major hospital wouldn’t need to sell anything to be able to afford a lawyer. Although the whole story of Luna being gestated outside her mother’s womb is far-fetched, fans have a problem imagining Jo is hurting for cash. Some fans see this as a common plot hole in Grey’s. A lot of the docs have roommates, which seems unnecessary given how high their salaries likely are.
But other fans can buy Jo’s money issues, especially given the high cost of living in Seattle, and student loans. One fan estimated Jo likely earns $200,000 per year. Another fan answered “That’s not a huge enough salary that she would have a TON of cash just laying around. Seattle is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States.” Plus, Jo switched to OB from surgery, meaning she’s back to being a resident. She probably would have taken a substantial salary cut thanks to the switch.
Most of Jo’s monthly income may be going to student loans
Although Redditors estimated Jo’s annual salary to be around $200,000, according to Comparably, it is likely between $160,000 and $187,000, since Jo went back to a residency period. That’s still a lot of money, but as fans pointed out, Seattle is expensive. Plus, as another fan wrote, student loans for doctors are enormous. Medical school is expensive, and Jo could still be paying it off.
Student Loan Hero claims that without an income-based repayment plan, medical school graduates could be paying more than $2,000 a month for their loans. That, plus the cost of living, may have left Jo a little short for an adoption lawyer.
Then there’s the adoption lawyer itself. Although some adoptions are simple, Luna’s likely wasn’t one of them. It was probably what is called an independent adoption since Jo did not go through an agency. According to FindLaw, that kind of adoption can range from $8,000 to $40,000. If we assume Luna’s adoption fell somewhere in the middle, it makes sense that Jo had to sell her shares to pay for a lawyer.
