MTV's 16 and Pregnant

[causingchaos]

My adopted sister's birth family was in and out and it was nice because she didn't have linger questions about who they were and the reasoning behind them giving her up. They weren't a threat just like extended family members basically. I think that is how many parents with open adoptions feel that it just goes to enhance the kid's life.

I have a good friend who was adopted as well and her's was closed. She has no answers about her medical history (which is now proving to be a problem for her). She has no clue about her heritage. She only understands the circumstances of her adoption a little bit (her birth mom was very young and gave her up). But she has so many unanswered questions. She loves her adoptive mom but the adoptive mom can't give her the closure and answers she needs and the adoptive mom knows that and is equally frustrated .

[prhoshay]

That all makes sense.

[CrossingGuard]

Anyone catch the reunion?

I didn't like Dr. Drew as the host at all. The interviews were pretty blah. The girls and the guys kept saying, "Ummmmm..." a lot, which annoyed me.

There were a few good moments though. Brandon and Theresa reunited with Catelynn and Tyler with baby Carly. To me, B&T seemed a bit hesitant to hand the baby over to C&T. They also revealed that they were choosing a semi-open adoption. Now I had to look up what it meant, and this is what I found from an adoption agency site:

Semi-open adoptions fall in between open and closed adoptions. The adoptive family and birth parents usually will know basic information about each other, such as their first names and state of residence. Complete contact information, such as phone numbers and addresses, are not shared. While adoptive families and birth parents may speak to one another prior to the birth of the child, some confidentiality is maintained. Once the child has been placed with the adoptive family, the birth parents may still stay in contact with the family via letters and pictures, however this correspondence is handled by a third party, such as the adoption agency. Our agency handles all correspondence between our birth parents and adoptive families in a semi-open adoption. Our agency maintains the current contact information for each party - if the birth parents or adoptive family wishes to send a letter or pictures to the other party, they simply mail it to the agency. We then repackage the letter so there is no identifying information (such as mailing address) and forward it on to the recipient.

That kind of shocks me, because B&T seemed very open to C&T. Also, Catelynn even called Theresa by the phone during her episode, so she should know her phone number by now. I would like to think that it's more of an open adoption than a closed adoption, though, since B&T did agree to appear on the reunion, so that must mean that they're still open to meet with C&T occasionally. Plus there's the part about the pictures and letters, so that's good.

But I know it's tough for B&T. They just want to be parents, but that's a little complicated since they didn't give birth to Carly. C&T did.

The cutest baby was Bentley. I loved the very end, when Amber's baby pulled Bentley's pacifier from his face and stuck it in her mouth.

[J.D.]

I watched it too. I still haven't made up my mind about the show. I'm torn between it being "real" or glamorizing being pregnant in high school. It showed these girls getting all kinds of attention, everyone in school talking about them - which could be interpreted by these young girls as a positive kind of attention. And then they got to be on tv talking about the whole thing....I don't know.

I know education is always a good thing - I just hope this was presented well.

And I didn't like Dr. Drew as the host either, although I absolutely adore him.

[sweet_lady]

I liked the show. It might reach a few kids and stop them from having sex or at least use precautions, but I don't think it will have a huge impact on teen pregnancy. We'll never stop teen pregnancy, but we need to continue to teach sex education (abstinence and bc/condoms) so kids know how to protect themselves or decide not to have sex because of the possible consequences (stds or pregnancy).

[CrossingGuard]

Yeah, I don't know whether to think MTV glamorized teen pregnancy or not. It would probably be better if you just chose which episodes to show your teen. I think the Maci and Catelynn episodes were the strongest episodes and truly showed how hard it is to have a baby at that age.

In the end, Dr. Drew did kind of look down on teen pregnancy, which may have influenced some opinions. He did ask the girls how they would inform others to not be in this situation.

Was it just me, or were some of the girls hesitant to raise their hands when Dr. Drew asked who was practicing safe sex?

I thought it was a good season. The Catelynn episode deserves an Emmy, IMO. Honestly, this is the kind of show that MTV needs. It has such an influence on teenagers, more than any other network probably, and shows like this could possibly sway some opinions. They need to drop the dating shows now, though, and preferably replace them with music videos. If they want, they can move the dating shows to the early morning, where the music videos are now.

[Trista]

It's hard for me to say whether or not it is glamourizing everything. On one hand, it shows all the attention that they get, both positive and negative. I think it is true reality and for many of them, the results of what happens when you don't use protection. I was actually surprised that Ebony and Josh got married. I think the Maci, Catelynn, and Ebony episodes are all good to show teens, because it strips away all of the glamour. People need to realize that you aren't going to go back to normal-you may have to give up walking with your class, your career goals, your friends-everything.

I thought it was good that they let the audience question the girls, and I knew that there would be a question about breastfeeding and how of all the girls, none of them stuck with it for more than a couple weeks. Definitely not surprised there.

I agree about dropping the dating shows, however they don't look to be going anywhere-honestly more people probably watch shows like Room Raiders and Parental Control than say, True Life or stuff like this. MTV needs to bring back music videos as well as bring on more hard-hitting exposes. Yet they keep running reruns of ANTM and VH1 shows...here's a thought: if you can't fill up your days, air music videos! Air reruns of some of your original shows!

[ClosetRTWatcher]

I just watched the Catelynn and Tyler episode last night and haven't seen the reunion one yet. I agree that these kids were by far the most mature pair we have seen on this series. I was surprised because they looked to be the youngest couple of the show and they definitely had the least supportive parents. I was SO glad that they went through with their plans for the adoption, it truly seemed to be the best choice for all parties involved. I hope those two go on to very bright futures far from their horribly unhelpful parents (possibly with the exception of Tyler's mom - we saw her but didn't hear much about her).

I wanted to slap her mom for calling her a b**** about meeting the adoptive parents and also his dad when he said that a son of his needed to "man up". The fact that the mom refused to sign the paperwork and made those kids trek out of the hospital to hand the baby over was just mean. The situation was hard enough for them without having their parents complicate it even more. What was wrong with those two!?

[J.D.]

Those are interesting points, CRTW. I have issues with most of the parents on that show. Several of them are less mature than the kids! I'm not the best parent ever, by far, but I was astounded by the name calling, and the hitting. And that was the on-screen stuff. Very sad, indeed.

[buttahfly]

dr. drew was getting on my nerves too.

they did seem reluctant to let the birth parents hold the baby.

i think they have an open adoption too - i don't knwo why they said semi open.

Anyone catch the reunion?

I didn't like Dr. Drew as the host at all. The interviews were pretty blah. The girls and the guys kept saying, "Ummmmm..." a lot, which annoyed me.

There were a few good moments though. Brandon and Theresa reunited with Catelynn and Tyler with baby Carly. To me, B&T seemed a bit hesitant to hand the baby over to C&T. They also revealed that they were choosing a semi-open adoption. Now I had to look up what it meant, and this is what I found from an adoption agency site:



That kind of shocks me, because B&T seemed very open to C&T. Also, Catelynn even called Theresa by the phone during her episode, so she should know her phone number by now. I would like to think that it's more of an open adoption than a closed adoption, though, since B&T did agree to appear on the reunion, so that must mean that they're still open to meet with C&T occasionally. Plus there's the part about the pictures and letters, so that's good.

But I know it's tough for B&T. They just want to be parents, but that's a little complicated since they didn't give birth to Carly. C&T did.

The cutest baby was Bentley. I loved the very end, when Amber's baby pulled Bentley's pacifier from his face and stuck it in her mouth.