My Opinions about the Season Finale of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant

Okay, so I was watching the MTV show 16 and Pregnant last night, yes I know, I’m 26, what the hell am I doing watching that show…now that we have that out of the way, there was something about last night’s episode that really bothered me.

Some of you who saw it might think that it was the fact the two teenagers gave their baby away, but it wasn’t that. My problem was this rule or law (I’m assuming it’s a rule, but I don’t know for sure) that I learned. The girl’s mother did not want her to put the baby up for adoption. I spent the entire episode wondering how the hell an underage person can give a baby up for adoption without the approval of a parent of legal guardian. I was always taught that you have to be 18 to enter in to a legally binding contract, unless you’re an emancipated minor. I watched the show closely, wondering if maybe the mother would change her mind or if the girl would change her mind and decide to keep the baby.

So, we get to the end of the show and the girl has the baby at the hospital. Her mother leaves because she has no intentions of signing those adoption papers. The girl tells the audience that because her mother wasn’t there to sign the papers, she couldn’t give the baby away on hospital grounds, which was code for, I have to walk outside and off of hospital property and then I can do whatever the hell I want to do, and that’s exactly what she did. The girl and her boyfriend and his mother and the adoptive parents walked off hospital grounds and exchanged the baby. What the hell? Are you kidding me? I’m assuming the purpose of the rule is to cover the hospital’s ass but come on!

Another thing that bothered me was that the girl’s mother had no say. I understand that the girl’s mother was not a very good mother, but talk about sending a big FU to mom. My goodness! I can’t imagine how her mother felt when her daughter came home without her grandbaby and she realized that her daughter had followed through with the adoption. If I was her mother, this is what I would read between the lines, “Hey Mom, life is so crappy with you that I wouldn’t wish that on my baby. I want my baby to have a good life and you sure as hell can’t provide that. We move too much. We’re too poor. I could go on, but you already know how horrible my life has been. I made the adult decision to have sex and I made the adult decision to give my baby to a loving couple so screw you! If you want to watch your granddaughter grow up, you better be nice to me, and maybe I’ll show you the pictures.” Of course her daughter didn’t come across as bratty, so I think she would probably say that a little nicer than I wrote it, but the underlying message would be the same and that would be that the baby is better off with her adoptive parents. The weird thing for me was that the girl didn’t seem to understand why her mother was so upset with her.

I’m not knocking adoption. The girl gave the couple a precious gift. I just think that unless a grandparent can be proven to be an unfit parent, if the grandparent wants the child, then the grandparent should be allowed to raise the child, especially if it’s a teenage parent involved. That said though, I’m not sure if the girl’s mother wanted the grandchild bad enough to take over guardianship, which is why I ultimately understand the girl’s decision. The girl and her boyfriend were not ready to be parents (and I’ll spare them the whole that’s what birth control is for lecture) so they found their child a nice home with people who came across as great people. It was a very responsible thing to do and a particularly heartbreaking thing to watch.

Status: Having strange thoughts.