'Be My Baby' has been made by Disney-owned ABC and is being hosted by veteran US news broadcaster Barbara Walters. It features a 16-year-old mother, known only as Jessica, who will hear "pitches" from five couples who are desperate to adopt her baby.
Each couple has only half-an-hour to convince Jessica that they will make the best parents for the boy, with Jessica having the right to make the final decision.
"I was basically deciding if they're going to have children or not. I was kind of playing God," Jessica said. "It's probably one of the biggest decisions I'm ever going to have to make in my life."
It appears that some of the potential parents who competed to adopt the baby found the programme somewhat distasteful, but despite misgivings their desperation to have a child saw them take part anyway.
"We were joking about the fact that it's like [dating shows] 'The Bachelor', 'The Bachelorette'. You're in or you're out tonight," Tab Brown, one of the contestants, said.
ABC has defended the programme, which has been made under the banner of the '20/20' current affairs show, against charges that it is giving away a baby as a prize. It says the programme is an in-depth look at the competition and heartbreak of the open adoption process.
The show mirrors a recent episode of 'Friends' in which Chandler and Monica face an interview in an attempt to adopt a child.
According to ABC, Jessica had second thoughts about giving up the baby right until the end. The programme was filmed last October, and will also feature scenes shot six months later so viewers can see what progress has been made. The show airs in the US this Friday.
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