Baby Borrowers: Episode 1 - is NBC Profiting from or Preventing Teenage Pregnancy and Baby Lust by Offering the Sudden Shock of Adulthood?

Baby Borrowers seemed like a relatively interesting experiment though drenched in controversy. Take ten teenagers (the Baby Borrowers themselves) and show them what it's like to be an adult. over a period of a few days. The Baby Borrowers show began the experiment by the challenge of moving five established teen couples in together into a nice neighborhood. You get the feeling that the teens are thrilled with the prospects of living together in a nice house and thought babies would be a piece of cake. Then the real experiment began. Over the course of the show, the teen couples will be presented with the reality of the stages of parenthood and adulthood. Baby Borrowers presents itself as an extreme glimpse at teens struggling to show they are ready to grow up. I couldn't help but remember my own teenage years and how brave (or completely ignorant about what they are about to undertake), they are. In essence, it looked to me like ten kids were about to play house. If you haven't watched it yet, don't read any further. Spoilers follow. . .

Baby Borrowers couple Kelsey and Sean are a typical pair of teens from New Hampshire. You can tell Kelsey wants to become a mommy and feels she's ready. Sean is not quite as ready for a baby, but he's willing to participate. Baby Borrowers Austin and Kelly are from obviously affluent families and their attitude shows it, but they seem interested to see what happens when they try to become parents. Daton and Morgan dated for under two years on and off again. They are testing their relationship which is bumpy already. I immediately felt sick for this couple. Used to a life of play and limited responsibility, this couple enjoyed surfing and each other, so what will parenting do to their stress level? Baby Borrowers Jordan and Sasha are out to prove themselves to their families and mostly to each other. They seem to be approaching this experiment as a curious couple who simply want to know if they were ready for adulthood. I chuckled when Jordan commented that babyproofing gadgets were annoying him. He seems to really appreciate Sasha and she him. Cory and Alicia think younger parents have an advantage to older. They are clearly in for a wake up call. You can feel it before the babies even arrive.

The show is scheduled to go as follows: First the Baby Borrowers couples will experience pregnancy (for about two days), then a baby (three days) a toddler (three days) preteens (three days) teenagers (three days) and then senior citizens. The experiment will show the teens what they're made of as people and as couples, offering insight as to whether they are prepared for adulthood. Baby Borrowers is on NBC Wednesdays.

After the first night, the Baby Borrowers girls were given the gift of a empathy pregnancy belly to wear. These uncomfortable gadgets are made to simulate actual pregnancy weight and appearance. Then, the Baby Borrowers couples were told they had to attend parenting classes at a local hospital. Austin and Kelly immediately had an argument over the way Kelly looked pregnant (he laughed and she went ballistic), so she removed her pregnancy belly and refused to attend the classes. I was shocked at the expletives and the attitude of Kelly. Austin did the right thing and attended the classes without her. Way to go, Austin. I worried about this couple more than I worried about the ones who were already fighting. She seemed too spoiled and self absorbed to be able to pull this off. She was also very manipulative of her boyfriend. It is obvious she had a lot of growing up to do. The other couples seemed interested in the experiment, but you could tell that for most of them, they were relatively clueless. It showed them learning about parenting technique kind of crash-course style.

The next day, baby gear arrived for the couples to put together. With one last night to enjoy the peace and quiet, the couples enjoyed a cookout together. The babies arrived in the morning on day three. I cringed for the parents who were lending their precious children out to the Baby Borrowers. After all, they were sharing something very amazing with people they didn't know. I have to hand it to them - I would never have been able to do that. The couples who brought their babies to the Baby Borrowers were all well-meaning and wanted to help the teens make the right choices. They wanted the Baby Borrowers to learn from the experiment and realize that it's not just babysitting, but that parenting is a full time job. Again, the one person who took things the least seriously was Kelly, who talked about an instant bond she had with her new charge, stressing that she thought she is ready for parenthood. You could tell that the teens were overwhelmed by all the instructions. Personally, I hoped they read the manuals well for the sake of the little ones.

The Couples who dropped off their little ones were allowed to watch the experiment in real time and intervene when they deem it necessary, and they did without question. There is also a professional nanny available at all times to intervene if the baby was ever in danger. Boredom and fights between couples were only amplified by the frustration of dealing with the babies. Instead of working through the problems, there is a lot of quitting on this show and basic apathy regarding the responsibilities of taking care of these little ones. Eventually, the news is broken to the teens that one must work while the other stays home with the baby.

Is this exploitation? Reality TV gone mad? It reminds me of the Baby Think it Over and egg / flour experiments held in child development and health classes all across America. Thing is, we are watching teens who are, for the most part, older than most teens who find themselves to be young parents. Another problem with the series is the fact that these kids are staying in nice homes, have nice things without working for them, which is much worse. When I was a high schooler, my younger sister got pregnant. She was fifteen and scared, but she also did a lot of stupid things. I remember when she would just leave her daughter with me without telling me what I was supposed to do. This taste of parenthood was enough to make me decide to wait, and she had my mom to help her out.

I am worried about Baby Borrowers. The wrong kind of editing can offer a very marred vision of the Baby Borrowers situation. But, Baby Borrowers has made a believer out of my daughter with its very first episode. She decided Baby Borrowers is a good indicator of what most teens would deal with if they had to face the same situation, and she'd like to wait until she's in her twenties. Time will tell if Baby Borrowers made a lasting impression, but this show alone isn't enough to teach teens that being a young parent is very difficult. I wish they would have made the teens live in a situation more likely with teenage pregnancy with bills, issues, and even the difficulty of navigating an adult's world before you're ready. Of course, this is only the first episode. Next week, the Baby Borrowers tackle jobs and I think the terrible twos.