**SPOILER ALERT!**
Last night, although I vowed I wouldn’t watch anymore episodes, I watched the season finale of 16 and Pregnant. Why? Well, this episode sounded like it would be different from the previous episodes for at least one reason- the couple decided to give the baby up for adoption.
When I wrote up my opinion of the show a few weeks ago, I felt all the girls/couples were ignorant and selfish, getting themselves into trouble because putting a condom on was such a task. I’m not going to change my opinion of the previous girls, if anything I may look upon them harsher than before. Why? Well, the girl in last night’s epis0de- Catelynn- made me cry. Her boyfriend made me cry. Their parents made me angry. VERY ANGRY.
Catelynn and her boyfriend since 7th grade (they are juniors in high school now) found out she was pregnant. Instead of following the path of previous episodes, they decided to do te responsible thing (gasp! Responsible?! On MTV?) and look into putting their baby up for adoption. Unlike Farrah’s case from before, despite how much Catelynn and Tyler wanted this baby, they knew it would be best for everyone if they gave her up. With both Catelynn’s mom and Tyler’s dad Butch (who are married. Seriously. They married after Tyler and Catelynn got together lo those many years ago), wanting them to keep the baby girl, these poor kids are literally all alone in this struggle between their head and their hearts.
The parents of these kids make me sick. Talking a 16 year old girl into keeping her daughter because “she’d be a good mom”. Butch, who spent most of Tyler’s life in PRISON, said keeping the baby would be MANNING UP. Sooooo, Tyler isn’t a MAN because he wants his daughter to have a loving family, a good education, and a STABLE HOME LIFE??!! Butch told Tyler that all babies need is love. My boy Tyler chose this moment to man up (ha) and reply, “Babies don’t just need LOVE! How would you EVEN KNOW? You made a stupid mistake and WENT TO PRISON for my childhood! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?”
As the episode continues, we see Catelynn’s mom leaving stuffed animals and a bassinet in Catelynn’s room, trying to tempt her into keeping this baby. When Catelynn and Tyler meet the parents they chose to get the baby, Catelynn’s mom throws a fit, yelling at Catelynn because she didn’t even tell her she was going, despite the fact that she DID. The adoptive parents met at church, the mom-to-be works at a private Christian school, and the dad does something I can’t remember- although equally responsible. Tyler and Catelynn are set- this is the couple who will take their daughter and give her the life they couldn’t.
The episode is filled with Tyler wiping the tears from his eyes- when reading the letter he wrote his daughter, when comforting Catelynn when debating whether or not to hold the baby after the birth, when the baby is finally born, and the doctor leaves her in the room with them (this was incredibly hard to watch, he kept saying, “Why is she still here?! Please, take her away!”). When the baby is born, and Catelynn is sitting on the bed, Tyler is leaning over her, cradling her in his arms and saying, “We can do this. We have to do this. Be strong, this is the best thing for her.” over and over and over. It’s truly heartbreaking to see thesee kids who just months before, never thought they’d have to be in the position of giving up their baby.
This time, unlike the previous episodes, I feel for the couple. They are smart, and realize bringing a baby into their situation is the worst possible thing they could do. They put aside all their wants and think of the baby first. How hard must that have been? A sixteen year old choosing to let go, rather than be selfish and keep the cycle going.
The adoptive parents recognize this selflessness, and bring a gift for Catelynn in the hospital- a charm bracelet with a heart that says, “Always in my heart”. Catelynn has one, the adoptive mother has one, and they have one for the baby, named Carolyn by the new parents . They promise to never take the bracelets off, and hug. As the episode comes to a close, we find out that because Catelynn is underaged, she needs her mom’s signature to sign the baby over while still on hospital grounds. Catelynn’s selfish whore of a mother denies this, so Catelynn and Tyler have to leave the hospital with the baby, and hand Carolyn over to the new parents off-site. As they kiss her goodbye, Tyler holds on to her blankets, rolled inside his fist. They watch the new parents load her into their car then drive away. Tyler says, “I kept her blanket”. Catelynn laughs through her tears and says, “You did? That’s good.”
MTV really got the tears flowing with this one. When Catelynn is ending her episode she says, “I know that Tyler and I are going to grow up and go to college and hopefully have some kids when we get married”. If it wasn’t for what we had just witnessed her going through, she sounds like every other teenager with a boyfriend. Honestly, I think this couple has a chance of making it, we already know they have a level head and strong hearts, right?
