“20/20: Be My Baby”
Tomorrow night at 10
* * * (three stars)
DESPITE the hype and hysteria by people who haven’t even seen the show, may I be the first to tell you that Barbara Walters’ “20/20” special, “Be My Baby,” is a great documentary that suffers from one problem: the worst promo in TV history (with the exception of “Geraldo Opens Al Capone’s Vault,” of course).
How a really good show ended up with a really bad promo is anybody’s guess, but trust me – “Be My Baby” is not a Win-A-Baby reality TV show.
It is, however, a thoughtful, agonizing show that deals with open adoption, the process that allows the birth mother to be a continuous member of her adopted child’s life.
Walters visits with 16-year old Jessica, a pregnant young woman from Ohio who is leaning towards open adoption, when her child is born.
Jessica is working with an agency that specializes in open adoption and has compiled histories of hopeful families. Jessica selects five couples who seem to fit the bill.
“20/20” cameras are there as the families meet with Jessica and the adoption agency’s owners. Even though she is just a kid herself, Jessica is clearly a smart and determined young woman, who asks questions that cut to the bone and expose the couples for who they really are – and what they really want.
There is Karen and Tab, a mortgage broker and insurance exec who have one child and lost another and very much want to add to their family. While they seem the best candidates, I changed my mind when they showed a video of their dead child’s wake.
Tina and Daniel are teachers who have tried for four years to conceive without luck, but who are clearly spooked by the prospect of being in competition for the child.
Steve and Kathy, a cop and administrative assistant, are an outdoorsy couple who have one adopted child – a boy born two months premature and severely handicapped.
Steve and Joyce, financial administrators, are an older couple who’ve been married 21 years and have one adopted daughter.
Finally, there’s Beth and Matt, a couple who’ve been together since high school. Their last attempt at adoption ended when the birth mother changed her mind.
While the stakes here are much higher than any dopey reality program, (you don’t have to marry the bachelor, but you do have to raise a child!), Walters carefully crafts the show so the cameras are not only sensitive to the heartbreaking and – for one couple – ultimately joyous process.
I cried like a, er, baby during the show. And if you don’t, you need to see a cardiologist immediately. Clearly, you don’t have a heart – or maybe you just left it in San Francisco.