16 and Pregnant: Lori

I thought I was going to be able to get through an episode of 16 and Pregnant without crying.  BOY WAS I WRONG.

Tonight's teen, Lori, couldn't decide what to do with her baby.  And in admirable procrastination faction she decided on adoption...two weeks before the baby was born.  I was a little uncomfortable initially in this episode with how much her parents were pushing adoption.  But then I thought - how often do the (adult) parents on this show actually tell it like it is to their daughters and stand their ground?  We've seen our fair share of shrill, overbearing parents, and pushover parents, and parents who don't seem to be all that concerned that their babies are having babies.  Lori's parents were actually pretty amazing at being honest with their daughter in a calm, straightforward way that seemed to eventually get through to her.

I felt almost panicky during the whole episode.  Will she or won't she?  Will she or won't she?  And then when it was time for the pissed off d-bag dad to say goodbye to the baby at the hospital, and Lori just would not let go of her son while tears were streaming down her face...dang.  She wasn't the only one crying.

It's a weird thing to say about a MTV reality show, but I really love the storytelling in 16 and Pregnant.  Even if the girls themselves aren't compelling, the raw reality of pregnant girls in high school, babies giving birth to babies, young women whose lives have imploded because of a few bad decisions breaks my heart.