In a gripping twist that has stunned EastEnders fans, pregnant teen Avani Nandra-Hart is offered a life-altering proposition that could change everything for her and her fractured family. After weeks of secrecy, tension, and emotional turmoil, Avani’s private struggle with an unplanned pregnancy is finally thrust into the spotlight. But it’s not her parents who confront her — it’s Suki Panesar, her step-grandmother, who unexpectedly steps in and delivers a bold offer: to raise the baby herself. The moment unfolds in one of the most emotionally charged scenes the BBC soap has aired this year. Avani, just a teenager grappling with the terrifying reality of carrying Joel’s child, is seen confiding in her best friend Barney Mitchell. She’s made up her mind — she plans to terminate the pregnancy, a decision she’s reached in solitude,

without the support of her already strained family. What she never anticipated was Suki, the calculating and often cold matriarch, discovering her secret and responding not with fury or judgment, but with compassion — and a proposition that leaves Avani speechless.

The proposal is simple on the surface but complicated in every other way. Suki tells Avani that she doesn’t have to go through with the abortion. Instead, she offers to take the child as her own and raise it herself. Her reasoning? She knows Avani is young, afraid, and unsupported. And perhaps more pointedly, she sees the child as a second chance — a way to reclaim a sense of purpose after the chaos that has gripped the Panesar family in recent months. Suki’s offer is not without emotional complexity. She’s still grieving past traumas, still trying to rebuild her relationship with Eve, and yet here she is — offering to raise a baby in the middle of it all. For Avani, the offer is shocking. She had been emotionally preparing for a quiet termination, a way to escape a problem she didn’t ask for and isn’t ready to face. Now she must consider the implications of Suki’s offer: Will she regret not being the one to raise her own child? Will the child resent her later for giving them up, even to family? Can she emotionally detach herself, knowing her child is being raised in the same household?

The moment forces Avani to confront deeper issues about her identity, her values, and her family’s dysfunction. Her father Ravi is currently facing arrest over his involvement in drug trafficking, her mother Priya is overwhelmed, and her half-brother Nugget is struggling with his own teenage battles. There is no stable adult presence in her life — at least, not one she trusts completely. That’s what makes Suki’s offer even more unsettling: Suki is no hero. She’s known for manipulation, for calculated kindness, for seeing opportunity where others see crisis. Can Avani truly trust her motives? Or is this just another way for Suki to control the family narrative — to take something broken and shape it to her liking? Yet, underneath the mistrust, there’s also a glimmer of truth in Suki’s words. She speaks to Avani not like a dictator, but like a woman who understands what it means to face hard choices alone. She tells her, “I see you. I see how scared you are. But you are not alone — not if you don’t want to be.” These words crack something open in Avani, who has felt abandoned and invisible for far too long.

As the days progress, Avani finds herself caught in a spiral of indecision. The idea of abortion was painful but clean — an escape. Now, with Suki’s offer on the table, she must confront the emotional depth of what it means to give life, to walk away, or to stay and fight. The offer also puts others on edge. Eve, Suki’s wife, is deeply concerned about the impulsiveness of the idea. She warns Suki that taking on a baby could be disastrous for their fragile relationship, especially given how Suki still wrestles with control and guilt from her past. Barney, meanwhile, remains Avani’s most loyal supporter, encouraging her to do what she feels is right — not what others expect. “Whatever choice you make, I’ll be by your side,” he tells her, anchoring her in an ocean of uncertainty. It’s a rare example of teenage loyalty and maturity, and one that Avani leans on more than she realizes.