The Baby Borrowers fights teen pregnancy

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts) Jun 19th 2008 2:04PM

Categories: Teens & Tweens, Love & Sex, Pregnancy & Birth, Childcare, Education

Lately I have been a little concerned about what seems to me to be the mainstreaming of teen pregnancy. Maybe it's just me, but movies like Juno and television shows like The Secret Life of the American Teenager make getting pregnant in high school seem like a viable option. I know teen pregnancies happen - it happened to me. And while having a child while I was still a child myself didn't exactly ruin my life, it sure made it difficult. And being the child of an unwed teenage mother was no picnic for my daughter, either.

Perhaps NBC's new show, The Baby Borrowers, is the antidote to all that. The whole purpose of the show is fight teen pregnancies. The show gives five couples ages 18 to 20 the opportunity to find out what it is really like to be responsible for the life of another person. The couples will live together and begin the journey with a simulated pregnancy. After the empathy belly comes off, they are charged with caring for an infant. For television purposes, life is fast-forwarded and after a few sleepless days of baby care, the couple is given a toddler to care for. After that, they get a tween, a teen and finally an elderly person.

The show, which which is based on a popular British show, debuts June 25. My girl is too young for it now, but I intend to tune in to this interesting social experiment. Will you watch? If you've got teens, will they be watching?

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Comments (33)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

queenoqueens 6-19-2008 @ 2:22PM

They should call these "simulated reality shows". What they're experiencing might actually romanticize parenthood for them. If they were to take care of a kid for perhaps 2 years and start to taste that kids are forever, it might actually give them food for thought before leaping into parenthood. But will a couple of days with a cute cuddly infant really do that?

I happen to know of someone who was on a reality show, and the simulated reality led to him actually falling upon much harder times later.

haley 6-19-2008 @ 3:03PM

It is very hard being a teen parent people dont need to be making it like its a walk in the park!!

arj 6-19-2008 @ 3:53PM

When I heard about this show, the first thing I wondered was, "Who would volunteer their baby to be cared for for days by teenaged strangers?"

Megan 6-19-2008 @ 6:24PM

I think this show is a necessary wake-up call in an age of glorified teenage pregnancy. I hope this show sparks great debate and teaches a few lessons.

spotlight 6-19-2008 @ 5:58PM

i have seen shows similar to this. well, acutally talk shows where they give the teens children to tend to for a time shorter than the show mentioned above will and the girls were almost always terrible parents and got a glimpse into how hard it would actually be to become a teen mother.

I had my son at 19, and yes he is the BEST thing to have happened to me. I went on to finish school and i am now married but i would NEVER recommend having a child so young to anyone who has the aspirations that i had for my life (i say that b/c i know there are women who were married and have no strong career ambitions who probably did not have the same problems i had).

Sabrina 6-20-2008 @ 1:30PM

I think 18-20 years old is too late. They're not "teen" parents any more at that point. Teen pregnancy usually refers to high school age kids, about 15-17 or so...although it encompasses younger teens as well.

CM 7-03-2008 @ 3:39PM

I completley disagree. 18, 19...ever notice that the word "teen" is still tacked onto the end there? I'm just now 22 and getting out of college and from my experiences, simply hitting 18 DOES NOT make someone an adult. I know people who have had kids at the 19, 20 years old and six-seven years later they are still as highly immature, irresponsible and wreckless as a 17 year old. It still bothers me that we all assume being an adult by legal standards will make someone an adult mentally. Hell, I still don't feel like an adult!!!!!!!!

carolyn 8-01-2008 @ 3:20AM

I dont think that they meant that an 18 or 19 yr old is old enough to have a child. What I think they are syaing is that it happens to so much younger kids and they are the ones who are trying to really have kids when they are just that theirself. That is who the target need to be on. School age children see the fact of it as cute and adorable. But its not cute or adoreable at that age. Really the for anyone is married some years and have their life in order. But hell that dont work out in some cases either.

Wyatt 6-20-2008 @ 4:22PM

I would never contribute my child to this show, and Sabrina, you are right. The teens in this show are 18-20 which is a huge difference... although the teens in this show seem very clueless.

I do hope that it will wake some kids up, but I'm skeptical about reality television teaching our children.

Lacey 6-20-2008 @ 4:57PM

This is exactly the kind of thing America needs right now, in a time where teen girls are making pacts to get pregnant together because they think it's cool. It's not cool kid, it's WORK!

Dave Sullivan 6-20-2008 @ 8:15PM

I think this show is gonna be a great social experiment. I'll watch when it premieres next week i'm pretty sure. until then, i've bene watching video clips on nbc., here's the link in case anyone else wants to.

http://www.nbc.com/The_Baby_Borrowers/video/#mea=262962

sundancekid82 6-21-2008 @ 2:45PM

Kids watching kids equals instant entertainment. I will have to watch.

Riot 6-21-2008 @ 3:09PM

Well, having kids IS cool, but not when you're in freaking high school! Too emotionally and physically draining for teenagers to handle.

Think86 6-21-2008 @ 4:05PM

I can't wait to see the old folks episode. Old people are just like little children, they revert when they get older.

momma bear 7-07-2008 @ 5:57PM

I'd love to see the other ages as well. How about changing the diapers of your parents? Learning that your parent has alzheimer's?
Staying up all night waiting for your teen to come in after breaking curfew? I think the teens should be younger and be on the show much longer. This would give them a better taste of what it is like. But whose baby would they use? That's the part I don't approve of.

Lori 6-21-2008 @ 5:10PM

Mother's/Teens...could you do it?

CarrieAnn 6-21-2008 @ 6:21PM

I think it's a great idea but i don't know if I could subject my child to it. He's a little bit of a wild one anyone, and that kind of stimulation in a new place with new people might be a little much. I think the show has a positive message though.