MTV's 16 and Pregnant - Season Two

MTV asked if I'd post this to my blog, of course I'm happy to oblige and help get the word out.

MTV’S “16 AND PREGNANT” DOCUMENTS THE CHALLENGES OF TEEN PREGNANCY IN SECOND SEASON PREMIERING FEBRUARY 16th AT 10 PM ET/PT

“Teen Mom Finale Special: Check-Up with Dr. Drew”
Airs February 2nd Followed by “Teen Mom: Unseen Moments”
on February 9th, both at 10pm ET/PT

New York, NY – January 25, 2010 – MTV continues to give viewers an inside look at one of the most controversial and thought-provoking topics in a second season of the popular MTV docu-series, “16 and Pregnant.” The new season premieres Tuesday, February 16th at 10pm ET/PT with ten one-hour episodes. Additionally, MTV will air the 90 minute “Teen Mom” finale on Tuesday, January 26th, followed by the “Teen Mom Finale Special: Check-Up with Dr. Drew” on Tuesday, February 2nd and “Teen Mom: Unseen Moments” on Tuesday, February 9th, all at 10pm ET/PT.

With statistics showing that three in ten girls in the U.S. will get pregnant before the age of 20, “16 and Pregnant” looks inside the lives of ten teenagers as they face the challenges that come with being a young parent. For 5-7 months, the series follows these teens as they navigate the unfamiliar territory and uncertainty of being pregnant. MTV captures every moment and reaction in real-time, including several of the births. From a cheerleader expecting twins to a young girl grappling with a potential family adoption, the new season tackles tough issues including strained relationships, balancing school with new responsibilities, gossip, health issues and financial hardships. Cameras continue to follow the teens for a significant amount of time after they gave birth to document how they cope with taking care of their infants while trying to maintain a semblance of their teenage life.

In the “Teen Mom Finale Special: Check-Up with Dr. Drew,” Dr. Drew Pinsky catches up with the cast of “Teen Mom” to reflect on the struggles of their first year of motherhood and reveal what’s happened since. From heartwarming to heartbreaking, Maci, Farrah, Catelynn and Amber, four of the young mothers featured in the first season of “16 and Pregnant,” openly discuss everything from struggles with mental health issues and a potential pregnancy to broken engagements and new proposals. Each young woman’s story will continue to grip viewers of all ages as this 90 minute issue-driven special reflects on the trials these young parents have faced. Also hosted by Dr. Drew, “Teen Mom: Unseen Moments” will bring viewers behind-the-scenes, unseen moments from the first season of “Teen Mom.”

According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, more than 700,000 teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant each year. The vast majority of these pregnancies are unintended. Despite the availability of sex education and access to contraception, the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and teen birth in the entire developed world.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is working with MTV to support "16 and Pregnant." In partnership with MTV, The National Campaign will continue to create viewing guides for each episode so educators, key organizations and individuals can use the show, which will be available rights free for distribution, as a platform to have an honest discussion around sexual health and pregnancy with teens. Additionally, The National Campaign launched an online resource supporting the show at www.stayteen.org to answer viewers' most commonly asked questions surrounding pregnancy and provide young people with the information they need to be fully informed on this topic.

As part of MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation's It's Your (Sex) Life campaign, viewers can also find resources on how to make responsible decisions about sex, insight into what to do if you think you could be pregnant, are pregnant or had unprotected sex, and information on how to choose and use contraception properly on www.ItsYourSexLife.com.

Online, MTV.com will continue to offer exclusive scenes you didn’t see on-air, sneak peeks, blog updates from the moms, and exclusive original content only available on 16andPregnant.MTV.com and TeenMom.MTV.com, which will feature exclusive post reunion interviews with the entire cast.

“16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” are Executive Produced by Morgan J Freeman. Tony DiSanto is President of Programming for MTV. Dia Sokol is Co-Executive Producer. Liz Gateley and Lauren Dolgen are Executives in charge for MTV. Jessica Zalkind is Executive for MTV. Concept by Lauren Dolgen.

Executive Producer Morgan J. Freeman (MTV's Taking The Stage, Laguna Beach,) made a name for himself as the Sundance award-winning writer/director of Hurricane Streets, a film centered on the trials and tribulations of teenage life. Freeman’s recent film, Just Like the Son, starring Mark Webber, Brendan Sexton III and Rosie Perez, will be released on DVD January 26th.

About Dr. Drew Pinsky:
The most listened to doctor in America, Dr. Drew is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Loveline,” where he has taken calls from listeners since 1982. Dr. Drew, who still runs a private practice, is also an internist who is board certified in addiction medicine and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Keck USC School of Medicine. Using media to deliver information, Dr. Drew often appears on television and radio programs to talk about sex, relationships, and addiction. Recently, Dr. Drew teamed up with MTV to help teens and parents get to the root of their problems surrounding the taboo topic of sex in the groundbreaking series, “Sex…with Mom and Dad.” Additionally, Dr. Drew is New York Times best-selling author of The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America.

About The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy:
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to improve the lives and future prospects of children and families. Our specific strategy is to prevent teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy so that a higher proportion of babies are born into wanted and welcoming circumstances. The National Campaign supports a combination of responsible behavior by men and women and responsible policies in the public and private sectors. Find out more at www.thenationalcampaign.org or www.stayteen.org.

response from a Haitian orphanage

We really appreciate all of the people who are interested in helping and adopting the orphaned kids from Haiti.

But here’s what the realities are at the moment:

• We don’t know when the Haitian government will be able to begin processing new adoptions.
• We don’t know when the Haitian government will be reestablished enough to either reaffirm existing rules or set up new ones.
• We don’t know how long and under what situations the orphaned status of the new children being brought to us will be able to be determined.
• The newly orphaned children may very well have a biological family who may be looking for them. We cannot send the children out of the country until the families have had a chance to look for them. Right now, that's very difficult because there is no public transportation and very little phone service.
• More than likely, the children will have to be declared legally orphaned by the Haitian courts, and that will take some time.
• Our immediate goal is to get the children out that have adoptive families already, so we can make room in the orphanage for the new orphans.
• If there is a government sponsored foster care plan, it will probably be handled by UNICEF.

There are just too many things that we don’t know. So, until we know more, we can’t accept applications for adoptions. As soon as we are able to accept applications, we will post on our web page, along with the criteria to adopt. You can write to me at that time and I’ll send you the adoption information.

But we do need help in many ways besides for that at the moment. If you would like to help in other ways, please let me know.

something else I've learned and wanted to share

When you are looking at photolistings of kids in foster care, just because there photo is posted there does not mean that child is available for adoption from foster care.

We've figured out it's like some job postings, they are planning to hire from within, but still must post the job for the public. They already have chosen a family for these kids, but for some reason must post their photolistings.

I check many state's sites regularly, so I see some kids as soon as they are posted, inquire, only to find they have already been placed. I find this very curious.

AND

In our state, Virginia, it is not mandatory to take any classes to complete your home study. So we haven't had classes of any kind, just home visits, fingerprinting, physicals, background check, financial check, CPS check, etc. And in Virginia our home study is good for three years. In some other states, home studies are only good for one year. So we may have problems with the one-year states accepting our three-year home study. Wouldn't you think it would all be more standardized?

So we are hoping to take some foster parenting classes so we can add it to our home study report, kinda like improving our adoption résumé to better our chances.

Also, some states won't consider us because we have no "parenting experience." Hello! We cannot have children. So, if we do foster parent for a while we can add that as parenting experience.

Why oh why does this need to be so complicated. There are children who need a home and we have a home to offer.

God's Littlest Angels

If you've watched "Adoption Stories" on Discovery Health, chances are you've seen Dixie Bickel at her orphanage in Haiti.

Many people have suggested that we look into adopting from Haiti this past week, but due to the uncertainty that currently rules in Haiti, adoption applications are not being accepted at this time.

I wanted to post a link to Dixie's orphanage, so you can read a first-hand account of what's going on in Haiti.

update

We started our journey hoping to adopt an abandoned baby from the hospital where my aunt works. Then we looked into private open adoption and found out that it's something “normal” people simply cannot afford.

So, for the past six months or more I have been searching the internet and children who are in foster care and free for adoption (meaning their parent's rights have already been terminated for one reason or another).

Our social worker has suggested we get certified as foster parents for a couple of reasons. This will allow us to get some parenting under our belt and we can add that to our home study. She also stressed that the majority of children who are adopted from foster are adopted by their foster parents.

I'm still wishing someone would just leave a baby in a basket on our doorstep. A girl can dream.

I turn 45 in April and I'm having a lot of stress and anxiety over this fact and the fact that I'm still not a mom, and I don't want people asking me if I'm my child's grandmother!!! And we started trying to get pregnant when I was 34! Who knew!!!

That's my story, and I'm stickin to it!

it's my blog and I'll post if I want to!

Thank you for all your kind words, support and encouragement. I will continue to blog about our adoption journey and try not to let those commenters get to me!

I am happy to know that I do have loyal readers, and as at the beginning of my blogging, I hope someone can learn something about adoption from our journey.

j

Foster Care Adoption Myths & Misperceptions

Foster Care Adoption Myths & Misperceptions

This just came to my Facebook page from AdoptUsKids.com, and it's from the Dave Thomas Foundation website. Some of the facts:

• Foster care adoption is often at little or no expense. Click here for further information on the costs to adopt.
• Children enter the foster care system through no fault of their own, as victims of neglect, abandonment or abuse.
• Virtually every valid study has concluded that children of gays and lesbians adjust positively and their families function well with their children’s outcomes comparable to those of heterosexuals.
• 23 percent of adopted children live with an adoptive parent 55 years or older.

anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

I received your comment today. This is the first contact I've had from you. I have done as you requested.

j

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Dear Readers,

I am no longer allowing comments from Anonymous. I'm afraid I may no longer allow comments at all and may give up the blog altogether.

j

me, a happy day, a day without thinking

Have you seen me? This is me. That is my husband in the glasses, and those are our friends Rob and John.

I cannot recall seeing myself happy. I look very happy in this photo. I was very happy.

It was a day.

A day without injecting myself with infertility drugs.
A day without mourning the loss of my three unborn babies.
A day without wondering if I was going to get my period.
A day without combing the internet in search of children to inquire about.
A day without waiting for a phone call from our social worker.
A day without thinking that I'm getting older with each passing day.
A day without wondering if people will ask me if I'm my child's grandma.
A day without wondering if we will ever have children.
A day without wondering why I here.
A day without wondering why I cannot carry a baby full term.
A day without worrying what's wrong with me.
A day without tears.

I haven't had a day like that in ten years.

hoping, waiting, learning

Ok, so I've learned a few things about adopting from foster care that I want to share.

I've learned that we do not get all the information about the child or children up front. If we are chosen as potential adoptive parents, at that time, we will get full disclosure on the child or children.

So some listings say "all home study approved parents will be considered" or something similar. We've been waiting to hear about a 5 year old boy. I finally contacted his social worker yesterday to see what the status is. They have decided to narrow down their search to adoptive parents who live within three hours of the child's current home. That's us out. I thanked the social worker and said it is very helpful for us to know this type of information because we are always left wondering why we weren't chosen and it's difficult not to take it personally. This beautiful boy is in Idaho so we have no chance.

I guess they cast the wide net and then decide, so the don't rule out the perfect parents who happen to be 3.5 hours away. One the one hand it seems a little unfair, but I can understand and remind myself we do what what's best for the child or children. That said, it's not making the waiting any easier.

Also, just heard from our social worker before Christmas. She said that maybe we should become licensed foster parents because she thinks some states are not considering us as adoptive parents because we aren't licensed foster parents. Hello? That would have been nice to know A YEAR AGO!!!!

After all the adoptions that have taken place, we just continue to be disappointed in our social worker and her lack of knowledge in how the system works. We'd love to change social workers, but that would mean an entirely new home study - back to step one - a more cash.

The process is frustrating to say the least. I hope we find our child/ children soon. My 45 birthday is looming large. I never wanted to be an "old mom," but I guess I'm way passed that now, unless we adopted a 20 year old.

I wish there was a central location for us potential adoptive parents to wait to be chosen. The mommy orphanage. Where the kid's social workers could search for us. There are so so so many kids out there, we just never imagined it would be so difficult for ours to find us :(