20/20 's Open Adoption "Reality" show

Unidentified

April 27, 2004

OMG folks

I cannot stay silent about this!

the following pro-mo was on one of the adoptee/mom boards I'm a member of.

I am done with ABC!

Here is the promo for the upcoming show:

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April 13, 2004

BE MY BABY DECIDING THE FUTURE OF AN UNBORN BABY BOY

A UNIQUE LOOK INSIDE THE INTENSE COMPETITION

OF THE OPEN ADOPTION PROCESS

AIRING ON œ20/20, APRIL 30

Click here for more information about Open Adoption!

In a unique television event, Barbara Walters documents a young motherԒs journey as she interviews five anxious couples vying for a child of their own. I was basically deciding if theyӒre going to have children or not. I was kind of playing God, says Jessica, 16, about her heart wrenching choice of who would adopt and raise her unborn baby boy while allowing her to continue to play a part in his life. ԓ20/20 cameras are there as each couple tries to convince the pregnant girl that they would be the best parents for her soon-to-be-born baby. But after all of the heartache, will the 8 ? month pregnant high school sophomore really be ready to sign away her legal rights once the baby is born and she can hold him in her arms? The emotional journey airs on ԓ20/20sҔ Be My BabyӔ on FRIDAY, APRIL 30 (10 11 pm ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Jessica, who dreams of becoming a nurse one day, says she wants to keep the baby, but her mother and stepfather believe it would be too hard on the family. Jessica reluctantly agrees, as long as it is an open adoption, allowing her and her entire family to be a part of the baby֒s life. So with the guidance of A ChildӒs Waiting adoption agency, Jessica and her mother select five families to interview and they become the judge and jury in an extraordinary competition. ԓYou dont want to goof anything like this up Җ its too important. It involves a babyҒs life, says Beth Anne, JessicaԒs mom.

"20/20" cameras were there last October when the competition for Jessicas baby began as the finalists arrived at the agency one by one. Each couple would have less than a half an hour to convince Jessica that they should be the parents of her unborn son.

Karen and Tab Brown, mortgage broker and sales executive

The Browns have been married for 10 years and have a son Trace, 8. They desperately want a brother for Trace. Their second child died shortly after his birth. They are JessicaҒs first choice on paper. We were joking about the fact that itӒs like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette. Youre in or youҒre out tonight, says Tab. Jessica: ԓI thought about how good it would be if I was able to place my son with them. It would be like giving them the baby that they lost.

Steve and Kathy Fellinger, police officer and administrative assistant

The Fellingers always wanted a big family. They adopted their first son Nathan who was born two months premature, barely clinging to life. He is now a healthy toddler. ԓIt will be devastating if were not picked,Ҕ says Steve. Jessica: I thought they were very kind people and they genuinely had good hearts because of their one son that they adoptedӅ even though he might not have been a healthy baby.

Tina and Daniel McKeen, high school Spanish teacher and math teacher

Adoption is their last hope to have a child. Over the last four years, Tina has undergone several unsuccessful surgeries for infertility. ԓThere were things that I wouldnt even anticipate would make me cry҅ I took a different route in the store because I didnt want to walk by all the baby products,Ҕ says Tina. They are the only couple without a child, a fact that concerns Jessica: I didnӒt want him [her baby] to be an only child and just sit around all day and not have any brothers and sisters to play with or anything.

Steve and Joyce Strasser, financial administrators

The Strassers, an older couple, have an adopted daughter from the same agency. Says Steven: ԓI hate to even think about it this way but it is a marketing thing. You are marketing yourself.֔ Jessica: I like this family because [they] adopted a child before and itӒs open adoption.

Beth and Matt Trnka, warehouse supervisor and physical therapist

The Trnkas are high school sweethearts who have one daughter after four miscarriages and a dangerous tubal pregnancy. They tried to adopt before but the birth mother decided to keep the baby they were selected to adopt. ԓWe thought here it is. We're gonna have a baby boy. And, and it wasŅ another heart break, says Beth. Jessica: ԓI like Matt and Beth because they stress that itŒs important that the baby knows who the parents are and theyre a very close-knit family.Ҕ

So who will Jessica choose? ItӒs probably one of the biggest decisions Im ever going to have to make in my life,Ҕ she says. And Tina McKeen agrees: Here was a 16 year old who was in total control of our lives. She had in her hands our happiness.Ӕ

20/20Ӕ cameras are there as Jessica tells the winningӔ family her decision. But this is not the end Jessica is still not sure she will be able to give up her son. œHow am I going to give this little baby to somebody else?... Im going back on this whole adoption thing҅ dont want to do it,Ҕ Jessica admits. And nothing is final until she signs relinquishment papers. Under Ohio law she has 72 hours to make up her mind. According to research, up to 30% of all birthmothers change their minds before they sign. And even Jessicas mother, who had initially pushed for adoption, wasnҒt ready for the love she felt for her first grandchild.

In the end, who will raise the little baby boy? There are many surprises along the way. 20/20Ӕ visits Jessica, the baby and all five families six months later to see how it all turned out.

20/20Ӕ has a long history of reporting on adoption stories, including exposing the plight of Romanias forgotten children and uniting Cambodian orphans with their new American families. Walters introduced her own adopted daughter Jackie during an adoption special, ғBorn in My Heart , two years ago. "Adoption is a subject dear to our heart," said ԓ20/20 Executive Producer David Sloan, "and the story of Jessica's baby is particularly powerful and compelling."

ABCNEWS.com, the 24-hour news service of ABC News and part of the ABC Internet Group, will provide companion programming to the broadcast.

ԓ20/20 is anchored by Barbara Walters and John Stossel. David Sloan is the executive producer. ԓBe My Baby is produced by Teri Whitcraft, Deborah Katz and Joel Bach. Martin Clancy and Eric Avram are the senior producers.