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’16 and Pregnant” — a reality documentary series which each week follows a 16-year-old expectant teen from her first trimester to the delivery of her baby — started out a few years ago as a teen “should see.” Two crazy-successful seasons and one highly-rated spinoff (“Teen Mom“) later, and what we’ve got is a “must see.”
Tonight’s season premiere follows one such kid — baby-faced Brooke, a 16-year-old high school junior from Mansfield, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, who loves stock car racing, her family and school.
Brooke is an ace mechanic and racecar driver who has been racing since (I swear) the age of 7 and has built her own racecar from used, broken-down parts.
Unfortunately, she can’t race right now — because she’s pregnant.
Her boyfriend Cody (who is 17) has moved in with her and her parents because the two are getting married — and we, the viewers, get to attend the nuptials.
If this were a society column, it would read: The bride wore white and the baby groom/baby daddy wore a racecar driver’s outfit.
Their youth, sweetness and total lack of preparation for the gigantic responsibility of being parents is completely heartbreaking.
Unlike many kids in their predicament, however, Brooke has tough but supportive parents. No, they don’t approve of the situation, but they understand it. All too well. Brooke’s mom, you see, was a teen bride and mother herself, and so was Brooke’s grandmother.
The family lives on a small farm, and Brooke and Cody are responsible for cleaning the house in lieu of rent. Their dream is to buy a tiny prefab barn (sort of a two-storyversion of the backyard sheds you can buy at Home Depot), which they plan to erect on the family’s land. The barn they want is big enough for a miniscule hotplate kitchen, and even has stairs that lead to a sleeping space.
“The windows and the staircase,” the salesman tells them, “are standard with each unit.” But the dream is beyond the high schoolers, since the payments would come to nearly $400 a month. Cody makes only minimum wage at the convenience store where he works part-time.
Are you bawling your eyes out yet?
But what this couple has got in spades, which a lot of teens in this situation do not, is a real sense of responsibility.
Cody is surprisingly supportive, and even though he’s not a good student, he pushes himself to graduate a semester early so he can work fulltime after Brooke has the baby. This will allow Brooke to return to high school herself.
When little baby Brody (Brooke plus Cody) is born, the family gathers around the gorgeous baby and celebrates.
You know that what they face is all uphill, but they just kind of make us think that, yes, for once, maybe they will make the climb.