Triads and Tribulations

“16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” April 15, 2010

In the last year or so my husband and I have stumbled upon two shows worth watching – “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”. Both are on MTV and are “reality” shows so to speak.  “16 and Pregnant” follows a different girl each week who is 16 or so and pregnant (go figure).  The episodes are an hour-long and follow a teenager through the end of her second trimester or so through her delivery and sometimes a few months after delivery.  They also showcase the relationships between the girl and the baby’s father, her family, his family and their friends.  “Teen Mom” is a continuation of “16 and Pregnant” in which they follow some of the girls from the original show from delivery to about when their child turns one. 

Originally, we were drawn to these shows because of an adoption storyline on one episode and we haven’t been able to stop watching yet.  There have actually been several episodes that focused on making the decision whether or not to place the baby for adoption.  Some couples decided to parent and some decided to place their child.  One couple that did place their baby for adoption on “16 and Pregnant” was then followed on “Teen Mom” after placement to show the aftermath of the decision and the intricacies of open adoption.  As an adoptive parent it is interesting to watch things from the perspective of the birthparents.  Even in an open adoption I don’t really think that we as adoptive parents really get to see exactly how hard it is for those parents who have placed a child for adoption.

Another reason I really like these shows is that they truly show how difficult it can be to raise a baby and how easy it is to get pregnant without protection.  I am not suggesting that all teenagers who are pregnant should place their babies for adoption, but I hope that it will make teenagers think before taking those risks.  Several episodes have featured teen moms who got pregnant because they simply did not think they could get pregnant with one time of unprotected sex.  I am floored at how many of the teenagers are so uneducated about birth control (this includes the teen moms, the fathers of the babies and their friends).  The shows also highlight how hard it is to continue in school, find and pay for childcare and how expensive it is to raise a child.

The episodes are interesting from another perspective as well.  It AMAZES me how immature a lot of these kids are.  The have this “sense of entitlement” that I hear a lot of my teacher friends talk about who deal with teenagers on a regular basis.  They think that everyone should not only take care of them, but also their child.  Now, that being said, there are actually quite a few VERY mature kids on this show as well who do step it up and become good parents, but it is not always easy for them.  It just goes to show that teenagers are not as mature as they think they are and they clearly “do not know everything.” Unfortuantely, it is hard to tell them that sometimes.  Hopefully these shows will help.  Be sure to check them out if you get a chance.