Popular US television series ‘Two and a Half Men’ is coming to an end, and producers have announced that in its next and final season, Ashton Kutcher’s straight character Walden will enter into a same-sex marriage to make it easier for him to adopt a child.

The storyline will feature character Walden Schmidt, after a bout of ill health, deciding that it is “very difficult” to adopt a child on his own, and so proposing to fellow straight character Alan Harper (played by Jon Cryer), to make it easier for them to adopt a child “as a gay couple.”

CBS chairman Nina Tassler insisted that the storyline was “a very positive statement”, and that she didn’t expect any negative repercussions from the storyline.

Speaking to reporters, she said: “He wants to find a way to add more meaning to his life so he decides he wants to adopt a child,

“In doing so, he starts the process and realises that it’s very difficult to adopt a child as a single, straight man.”

She continues: “Once and for all, he decides, ‘I’m going to propose to Alan. We’re going to get married and adopt a child as a gay couple,'”

In clarifying why she thought the storyline would shed positive light on the fact that same-sex marriage is becoming more widely accepted, Tassler said Walden thinks he is “going to adopt a child as a gay couple, and the reality is he can do that.”

“In a universe where at one point you couldn’t do that, and now you can, I think that’s a much more positive statement that he’s making.”

Some have already taken to social media to voice their disapproval at the storyline, saying it is offensive to genuine same-sex couples.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, GLAAD said: “We hope the show will acknowledge not only the progress made in acceptance of gay and lesbian couples, but also the fact that – in many areas of the country – same-sex couples are often under greater scrutiny or still barred from adoption options that straight couples have.”

The programme, aired on CBS, last September introduced the role of a bisexual female character in the form of Charlie Harper’s long lost daughter. Harper was played by Charlie Sheen.