“Switched at Birth” -- the ABC Family drama revolving around two teenage girls who were, as the title indicates, switched at birth and grew up in totally different manners -- is a show that is not shy about drawing its story power from melodramatic pain and sentimentality.

According to E! Online’s Spoiler Chat, the heartbreak that fans of the Peabody Award-winning series have come to expect will only intensify in Season 5.

Lea Thompson, who plays Kathryn Kennish on the series, explains that the coming chaos will affect Bay (Vanessa Marano).

"With Bay dealing with the fallout from her breakup, Kathryn always tries to keep a stiff upper lip and keep everyone moving forward with a lighter touch," she said.

According to the 54-year-old actress, Bay is going to move forward with her art, but this will not save her from experiencing all kinds of new strife.

“There's going to be big financial problems with John and Kathryn and that's going to be really challenging,” Thompson said. “They're so used to being able to fix everything and being the mama and papa bear, but they can't this time and that's going to be really hard on them."

Twenty-two -year-old Marano, a California native, brings a great deal of what seems like a natural empathy to her character. And perhaps this comes from her genuine connection to a well-known charitable organization.

In an interview in Complex, the young star spoke about fate and tragedy.

“I think we all have that fear of losing people," she said. "That’s an incredible fear that I think everybody has. Every day is precious. Anything can change at any time.”

Marano, who is an ambassador with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, explained that working with the foundation “showed me so much about how anything could change, so you should enjoy every single moment of every single day.”