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A Reality Show with Some Reality
So The Baby Borrowers … I had heard about this show a year ago when there was some backlash against the premise of arming irresponsible teen couples with infants and thought the concept was foul. As a new mother there were certainly days when I would have handed my twins to the UPS man, but the thought of giving a baby to these bratty, immature high school couples seemed really out of line.
Here’s the deal. Teen couples want to be grown ups so they are given a house, a job and an infant (and then a toddler, an adolescent and a senior) so they can give real life a trial run. During the infant period the real parents sit in a house next door and can watch their baby and these kids playing house on camera during the entire experiment. If they are appalled by something they can go knock on the door and confront the teens. There is also a full time nanny with the babies who is allowed to intervene if the baby is in danger.
When I started to watch the show while I was on the road (my only excuse), I found myself watching the baby’s “real” parents versus their fake teen caregivers. I needed to understand why someone would volunteer for this show – there are no prizes, no rewards or free trips – and you are donating your flesh and blood for some reality show experiment. But here is the catch, I now look at these parents (particularly the moms) as real heroes for being involved. They were sacrificing time with their own babies to teach big lessons. Several of the moms were involved because they had been teen moms themselves and wanted to give these young girls a reality check before they got knocked up and found out that babies are a lifelong commitment. Bottom line, that says a lot about women and their empathy for other women.
This reality show isn’t worth watching to see if the teen couples make it (they shouldn’t), but if you watch in the background you can feel pretty proud of the moms who are involved.
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