Critically acclaimed throughout its run,Mad Menwas lauded for its elegant visuals, sharp writing, and complex character studies. But beneath the smoky glamour and Madison Avenue bravado lies a recurring, painful truth so powerful it would be hard to replicate in aMad Menreboot. Parenting (especially motherhood) is never simple. Whether it’s Betty Draper’s brittle dissatisfaction,Joan Holloway’sMad Mentransformationinto single motherhood, or the rigid Catholic matriarchy of Peggy’s own upbringing, the show explores how society defines mothers, how it punishes them, and what it demands they sacrifice.
Even Don Draper’s complicated relationship with parenthood, shaped by abuse, adds another lens to the show’s generational and emotional inheritance. In this context, Peggy’s story of ambition, shame, silence, and an impossible decision becomes one of the most haunting threads in the series. Her journey throughnot knowing about her pregnancy inMad Men,thendealing with the social and emotional fallout of giving up a child, unfolds slowly. In fragments and confessions, Peggy reveals bit by bit how she feels about her choices to the few people who knew about her baby.
6Katherine Olson
Peggy’s Mother
ThroughoutMad Men,Peggy’s mother, Katherine Olson, gives vital context for Peggy’s starting point in terms of her self-esteem. After Peggy gives birth, we see more of her family background in season 2 when she is visiting her mother along with her sister, Anita, and Anita’s children. Katherine is clearly overbearing and isdeeply hurt by what she perceives as her daughter’s indiscretion in having a child out of wedlock. Although she does not directly mention the baby, it is implied that Katherine and Anita took care of the boy initially and arranged the adoption process, with Peggy deemed unfit.
In season 2, Katherine tries to get Peggy to go to church more, giving us more of an insight into their mother-daughter relationship, and making it understandable why Peggy is reluctant to have quality family time. The only time she seems to have something positive to say about Peggy is when she is bragging to Father Gill about her copywriting profession in season 2, episode 4, “Three Sundays”.
Katherine makes her feelings very clear about Peggy having romantic relationships outside of marriage.
Later, in one ofMad Men’s saddest episodes, season 5, episode 7, “At the Codfish Ball”, Katherine makes her feelings very clear about Peggy having romantic relationships outside of marriage. She candidly tells Peggy and Abe they are“living in sin”,assumes Abe is using Peggy for practice before settling down, and advises Peggy to get a cat rather than live with a partner before marriage.
5Anita Olson Respola
Peggy’s Sister
Anita is subject to the same parenting as Peggy, but feels burdened in a different way because of the very disparate paths they chose in life. Anita takes the traditional route and has children, but she is struggling because her husband is out of work with an injury. In season 2, episode 4, “Three Sundays”,she pours out her resentment to Father Gillin confession:“I’m so angry at my little sister. She had a child out of wedlock…”Her anger runs deep about the fact that she has done everything“right,”while Peggy is thriving despite her past.
Anita feels a sense of profound injustice about Peggy:
“She seduced a married man. It’s a terrible sin, and she acts like it didn’t even happen. And I hate her for it. And I feel so guilty about it. But everyone keeps falling all over themselves trying to help her. And she goes on like nothing happened. Nothing at all. What about me, Father? My troubles. What about me being good, for what?”
Alongside Katherine, Anita visited Peggy in the hospital when she gave birth. She reveals to Peggy that she had to deal with the emotional fallout of the event and the impact it had on their mother. Despite Anita’s bitter feelings,after counsel from Father Gill, her attitude toward Peggy improves, and she defends them from their mother. Although she should not have revealed information about Peggy during her own confession, Anita could have thought it was essential context to her own pain — ultimately, the onus is on Father Gill to preserve the seal of confession.
4Don Draper
Peggy’s Boss
Don Draper knows about Peggy’s baby because he visited her in the hospital. He says that at first, he called on her at home, and her roommate directed him to her mother, who claimed Peggy was in the hospital with tuberculosis. In a flashback in season 2,Peggy wakes up to see Don at her bedside. He does not press her to say specifically what has happened, probably because Peggy is still in shock herself from the unexpected birth.
Don gives Peggy some advice typical of his character - to get out of there and move forward…
However, Don gives Peggy some advice typical of his character — to get out of there and move forward, and that“It will shock you how much it never happened.”This implies that sheer momentum can move someone out of a mental low — and he is not the only person who gives this advice that is a sign of the timeMad Menis set. In season 2, episode 9, “Six Month Leave”, Carla advises Betty to solve her anguish by splashing her face with cold water and going outside.
Don and Peggy only talk about the baby once more after the hospital conversation in season 4, episode 7, “The Suitcase”, an episode centered on their friendship. When they open up about their private lives, the topic gets a rare mention. Peggy reveals that her mother assumed Don was responsible for“what happened”, merely because he visited her at the hospital. Don asks if she knows who it is, and if she ever thinks about it. It is a short exchange, but it says a lot about their relationship that she was willing to touch the sensitive topic again.
3Father John Gill
Peggy’s Priest
Throughout season 2 ofMad Men,Father John Gill is introduced as the cool new priest in the Olsons’ church. He takes an interest in befriending Peggy, which her mother encourages, no doubt because she thinks he will steer her back down the strict Catholic path. Gillappeals to Peggy’s intelligence and flatters her about her talents as a soft approach to attempt to get her to open upabout her pregnancy. A key scene that shows a crossed boundary is in season 2, episode 4, “Three Sundays," when he uses information gleaned from her older sister’s confession.
Peggy praises Gill’s Easter sermon, calling it“very colloquial”, and Father Gill hands her an egg,“for the little one”.This breaks the seal of confession, making Peggy aware that he knows about the baby. This must have come as a blow to Peggy, making her feel that her secrets had been shared without her permission, which was her business to share in confession if she wanted to. Gill may have been making her aware so that she did not have to bring up a daunting topic herself, but thisMad Menbetrayalwas still a clear ethical breach.
Gill seems to be pressuring Peggy to confess and talk to him about the pregnancy…
The issue of boundaries around Peggy’s past comes to a head in season 2, episode 13, “Meditations in an Emergency.” Gill seems to be pressuring Peggy to confess and talk to him about the pregnancy, insisting that she feels“guilt”that she needs to air out and that she needs to be saved. She tells Gill,“I can’t believe that’s the way God is.”In saying this, Peggy begins to shed the strict Catholic influence that seems to demand her shame.
2Pete Campbell
The Father Of Peggy’s Baby
“Meditations in an Emergency" also sees Peggy opening up to Pete, which adds even more poignancy to her conversation with Father Gill in the same episode. Following the key theme of confession, Pete confesses his feelings for Peggy. Peggy decides thatthis is the right time to relieve herself of her secret and be honest with Pete about the baby. To Pete’s astonishment, Peggy says she could have guilt-tripped Pete into being with her if she wanted to, but she wanted instead to focus on her career and move forward.
She tells Pete straightforwardly,“I had your baby. And I gave it away.”Pete has a rare moment of speechlessness when being told this newsand asks why she would tell him that. Not only has the information been kept from him for two seasons, but Pete and Trudy are having difficulties conceiving, making the news even more difficult to digest. The historical context is also a key factor inwhat happened to Pete and Peggy’s baby inMad Men.Peggy was in the early stages of her career and had very little financial security, and Pete was married.
1Stan Rizzo
Peggy’s Co-Worker & Eventual Romantic Partner
Stan Rizzo is the last character viewers see made aware about Peggy’s baby inMad Men,speaking volumes about the level of secrecy — beyond Peggy’s heightened concern with contraception in her other relationships, we’re led to assumeit is not a part of her life she routinely reveals, giving her confession to Stan a lot of weight. This conversation with Stan also serves as exposition to confirmwhat happened to Peggy’s baby inMad Men,since there is some ambiguity about the nature of the adoption.
Peggy’s reveal to Stan takes place in season 7, episode 11, “Time & Life” as part of wrapping up her arc inMad Men’s final season. She tells him:
“He’s with a family somewhere. I don’t know, but it’s not because I don’t care. I don’t know because you’re not supposed to know. Or you’re able to’t go on with your life.”
This shows that Peggy’s adoption inMad Menwas a closed adoption that does not allow for contact between the birth mother and her baby. The conversation does not just come out of nowhere. When Peggy and Stan are left in charge of a young girl abandoned by her overbearing stage mother, things quickly unravel — the girl accidentally staples her thumb, prompting her mother to return and harshly scold Peggy for being an irresponsible guardian. Stan cannot fathom the strength of Peggy’s response, which leads to her opening up.
