Five-Minute Time Out: Baby Borrowers
A baby-loaning mother and teen "parent" sound off on the hit TV show.
by C.W. Thompson
July 24, 2008
How was the experience for you?
I'd never been away from home. My mom and I are really close, so it was a really big thing to not talk to my mom. The whole situation is really stressful. I wasn't emotionally prepared for that. I couldn't contact anyone except my boyfriend for three weeks. They made an exception for me to call my mom. The baby's mom put me in a bad mood, and other things. We were there for three weeks.
Which age group did you enjoy taking care of the most?
I'd have to say the toddler was the funnest – I could talk to him. But there was never an easy part of it. It was all hard, and each stage had its challenges.
Have your feelings about being a mom changed?
I still want to have kids for sure, just not anytime soon. We have a lot of growing up to do.
What did you friends think of you going on the show?
All my friends were very supportive. They didn't have the same mindset as us. Cory and I are really close to our moms. My mom was 19 or 20 and Cory's mom was 18 when they had us. My mom wants me to wait, of course. She struggled a lot after having me.
The teenage cast of The Baby Borrowers
Do you know friends your age who are having children? What would you say to them?
Practice safe sex, of course. I have a handful of friends who are pregnant. You have to be supportive of them. They made a mistake, but they have to take the responsibility. I mean, they are just kind of saying, if we could plan it, but we didn't. But they are taking care of their responsibilities.
What did you and Cory learn?
I think we turned into a really good team and we learned a lot about ourselves. I think the show can help a lot of people out. The parent also learned something. We were with the toddler and the parent came to us and said, you taught me that I should get down on the ground with my child more.
How do you respond to critics of the show who think it's irresponsible for the teen parents to handle these infants?
First of all, the whole thing with the babies, there were nannies on set and the parents were right across the street monitoring every room, and there were paramedics on set all the time. Any time they wanted to intervene, they did. The babies slept at our house. Half the time the parents didn't get any sleep. Basically, it's one hundred percent safe.
Was it worth it?
I think it was worth it. Towards the end it was more fun. Our relationship grew stronger.
Photographs by Tommy Baynard.
Copyright © 2008 NBC Universal, Inc.
©2008 C.W. Thompson and Nerve Media
About the Author
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C.W. Thompson is a writer based in Brooklyn who's had work published in a variety of media outlets. His baby is now a toddler, which he finds hard to believe. |
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