Has anyone seen the ad for this coming Friday's (the 30th) 20/20? I only caught the last bit of it, but it was enough to make me shake my head.
Seems there's one girl who's wanting to make an adoption plan for her son and five families that are competing for the baby. All five of the families, the girl and the baby all posed with Barbara Walters for the preview.
Is it just me or does this seem weird? It's like some reality tv show and the couples are going to be "voted" off one by one. It just doesn't seem to be in good taste to me. I realize that when a bm is presented with life books of different couples, those couples are "competing" against each other to a certain extent, but UNKNOWINGLY. These couples are on national television!
I'll be watching Friday night to find out what the deal is....
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but sounds a little odd to me. I don't think I could stand the heartbreak of not being chosen, let alone letting the world watch it. I will have to remember to watch. It definitely sounds like it has a reality show feel to it.
__________________ Me 40, Dh 35
mom to Kylen through the miracle of adoption born 1/24/04
also mom to 13 furry babies through the miracle of stupidity
DX 1998
8 failed Clomid cycles, opted for adoption over further fertility TX
Kylen severe brain damage as a result of near drowning 6/24/06
There's a lot of talk about this going on on my China adoption website. It's a horrible thought--I don't know if I can watch it so you may have to fill me in. Seems a bit distressing to me if I understand the premise correctly!
PS---Here's a link for the press from the adoption agency:
Happily married for 19 years & mommy to 3 beautiful daughters
~13 year old (born preemie @ 24 weeks), 5.5 year old & 3.5 year old (both born in China!)~
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I posted this on the mommy board too, but I have to say that after reading that link, I think the commercials are misleading. It really sounds like all they did was just film the process (birthmom looking at profiles, interviewing the couples, etc).. like "Adoption Stories" only they went back and interviewed everyone again 6 months after the baby was born. It seems like a case of advertising gone WAY too far, but I don't think they actually conducted a contest. I could be wrong, but that's how I understood the information given.
-Brandy
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DS Samuel Sebastian(6) - Adopted from Colombia
DD Isabelle Caiyi(5) - Adopted from China
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i havent seen it yet, but i dont agree with the concept. i wonder how the child will think about it once he is grown, sure its nice to be wanted, but that is alot of his very personal info that is being aired without his concent.
i dont think i would want that kind of stuff on tv about me. btw what on earth would be the bm's incentive to do this????
I freaked out when I first saw the commericial. I did not hear at first that it was a 20/20 interview. I just heard "5 couples compete for this one baby". I stopped in my tracks looked at my husband and we just shook our heads. We thought this is unbelievable.
The sad situation is that this probably planted a seed in some producers mind in Hollywood and pretty soon it will become a reality show.
With our agency we never were able to find out if our book was being distributed. You don't get the call until you've been selected and in most cases once the baby is born and the bm has signed rights away.
What a mess!!! I just have to pray for that child and in my heart I know she will be with the family God chose for her.
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Gawd, is the child going to feel like he did something wrong by being placed with Family 1 instead of Families 2-5? Or what if he fantasizes that he should have been placed with a different family. This cannot be good for the child, they go through enough because of adoption as it is. My only hope is the child doesn't get to see this tape. Having this aired so publically has to make him feel or like a trophy, not a human being.
The adoption process (domestic or international) is not always a pretty sight, the process is definitely flawed or at best awkward, but it sounds like they're setting it up to become a major mockery and make things worse instead of better for all involved.
This reminds me of the recent news that hit another adoption board I'm on. An adoptive parent wrote a popular book "Fast Track Adoption" (how to get your baby super fast) and the birthmother was a member of our board. Well, she committed suicide a couple weeks ago in part because of the treatment she received (the reneging) on the part of the adoptive parents to ensure they "got their child". Sick. Sad.
Course I'm sure I'll be glued to the set now that I've heard of this show, so ratings the show will get!
I was shocked after seeing the commercial! I couldn't believe the way it was being presented....families "competing" for one baby!!!!! How horrible is this!!!!! As an adoptive mother, I was crushed to see this. I will watch on Friday, and hope that Barbara Walter presents open adoptions truthfully.
ABC explains its side of the story in article below, which I've copied from today's NY Times on the web:
April 28, 2004
'The Ultimate Reality Show' on Adoption
By BILL CARTER
To some viewers and at least one interview subject of this Friday's edition of the newsmagazine "20/20" on ABC, the promotions for an hourlong special about open adoption have made it come across as the newest, and perhaps most outrageous, reality show yet.
But ABC News executives said yesterday they were softening the promotions and offering assurances that the program was a responsible report on the process of open adoption, not "Let's Compete for a Baby."
The program follows a 16-year-old mother from Ohio as she selects among the five couples vying to raise her baby, even as she herself remains in the child's life. But this edition of "20/20," called "Be My Baby," has aroused concern because of the promotions that ABC News has created for it.
Last Friday, in discussing the report, the co-anchors of "20/20," John Stossel and Barbara Walters, described the program in ways that directly connected it to reality shows.
"Barbara will bring you what might be called the ultimate reality show," Mr. Stossel told viewers. "As you watch, a pregnant teenager will decide which of five couples gets her baby."
Ms. Walters added, "We were joking about the fact that it's like `The Bachelor' or `The Bachelorette': you are in or out tonight."
Ms. Walters's comment was taken from a point raised by a participant in the program, one of the prospective fathers, who compares the situation that he and his wife are in to being in a television competition like "The Bachelor." ("The Bachelor" is also on ABC.)
Some viewers have been critical of the comparison, complaining to adoption Web sites, radio stations and news organizations, including The National Post, a Canadian newspaper.
One viewer, Jennifer McCormick of Boonton, N.J., said she heard the program being discussed on WPLJ radio in New York yesterday and found the notion of competing for a baby "completely appalling."
Ms. McCormick, a mother of three, said she had close family members who have pursued adoptions. "You can't put a kidney for sale on eBay," she said. "And you can't put a competition for a baby as a topic of some sort of dysfunctional reality show."
An ABC News spokesman said the program was nothing like a reality show.
"Clearly there is no competition," Jeffrey Schneider, the spokesman, said. "This is the chronicling of a process that happens every day in this country. We as journalists are just focusing a camera on it."
Mr. Schneider said the report was entirely consistent with ABC News's standards. He pointed out that "20/20" had frequently covered the topic of adoption in the past and had won several awards for that coverage, most notably in a series on Romanian orphanages in the 1990's. The reports sparked a flurry of adoptions in that country.
Ms. Walters, who is the anchor for Friday's special, served as the anchor for the Romanian reports. And as Mr. Schneider pointed out, Ms. Walters has always had an intense interest in the subject of adoption because she herself adopted her only child, a daughter.
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i think its silly that abc is using the fact that barbra herself adopted as a green light to do broadcast this.
i really dont think they are respecting the childs best interests
20/20: 5 families compete to adopt baby?? 
haven't seen that 
appauled 
