Repro Health Hub

Wednesday night, NBC will premiere “The Baby Borrowers,” a reality show aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy—“It’s not TV, it’s birth control,” reads the Web site. The series, which NBC is marketing as an “intriguing new social experiment,” follows five 18-to-20-year-old couples as they spend 18 days tackling the “adult responsibilities” of raising children, managing homes, and holding jobs.

Each couple is given its own home outside of Boise, Idaho. One partner from each couple works while the other plays homemaker. The women wear fake pregnancy bellies and attend pre-natal classes. As the series progresses, the couples—whom NBC describes as “nervous” and “fumbling”—are entrusted with the lives of individuals from every stage of life. For three days at a time, the teens care for babies between the ages of six- and 11-months-old, toddlers, “sassy” pre-teens and their pets, teenagers, and finally (oddly?) senior citizens. Meanwhile, nannies and the children’s real parents watch the drama unfold from monitors in neighboring houses. NBC assures audiences that these adults can step in at any time.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy worked with NBC to develop the series and says the show will advance its mission of “improv[ing] the lives and future prospects of children and families” and “ensur[ing] that children are born into stable, two-parent families who are committed to and ready for the demanding task of raising the next generation.” Critics of the show call its extreme approach harmful to the health and wellbeing of the poor children forced to live with these teenaged couples.

Also troubling is the idea of TV as birth control. I like to think that actual birth control—you know, contraceptives?—is the best way to reduce unplanned pregnancy. Is reality tv really the next frontier for birth control?

Will you tune in tomorrow night? I think I might have to.

By Allison Farer

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 10:08 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.