Season 12 of "Grey's Anatomy" will see Ellen Pompeo's Meredith trying to move on in life without Patrick Dempsey's Derek, who was killed off in the previous season.

It won't be an easy task for Meredith, as she will have to balance her professional life as well as take care of three young children. According to plot spoilers, Meredith will have support from her sisters, but she will surely feel the absence of a life partner.

But as an actress, dealing with this loss is going to be an interesting challenge because "those are the best scenes to play", revealed Pompeo during an interaction with TV critics, reported Associated Press.

"So many people lose their spouses in a myriad of different ways and feel they can't get up again and to tell the story of how life goes on after... that's a story worth telling," she added, regarding the realism of the whole situation.

Actor Martin Henderson is expected to fill the void created by Dempsey's departure, but his character is not expected to be a potential love interest for Meredith. According to showrunner Shonda Rhimes, a relationship might be the last thing on Meredith's mind.

But there won't be any dearth for romance in season 12. Rhimes revealed that Callie and Arizona will be embarking on new romances in season 12.

 "They're going to both be dating women," Rhimes told TVLine, adding, "I do want to honor the fact that Callie is bisexual, and we've established that she's dated guys. But in terms of where she's going now, she's going to be dating a woman."

However, their new love interests will not be someone viewers of the ABC medical drama have met before.

"Grey's Anatomy" season 12 will premiere 24 September at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.