Fury as TV teenagers play house with REAL babies

[Teddy Bear]

Despite experts and council officials warning them against making the following programme in their search for a new 'reality' spinoff, the BBC (as ever) decide they know best and proceed with it. They even claim to have the backing of one childrens' organisation, who deny any such thing. One has to wonder at parents who hand over their children for this experiment. It seems as though people will go to any lengths to get in on the 'celebrity' ladder.

Fury as TV teenagers play house with REAL babies

The BBC has outraged child protection experts by producing a reality TV show where infants are handed over to live with teenage 'parents'.

The Baby Borrowers charts the experiences of the teenagers as they struggle to cope with the demands of parenthood.

Five couples - aged between 16 and 19 - were filmed attempting to care for tiny babies and young children.

Local authority officials were so concerned about the 'very real risk' of physical and psychological damage to the children that they urged the BBC to cancel the series.

In one episode a ten-year-old goes without food for a day during what the BBC describes as a 'unique social experiment'.

On another occasion a baby had to be removed from the care of one couple as their relationship fell apart.

Yet the corporation ignored formal protests, refused to allow social workers on the set to monitor filming, and has been accused of cynically putting babies and children at risk for the sake of entertainment. The BBC insists it has taken 'extraordinary' steps to ensure the safety of the children and claimed it had worked with one specialist charity to ensure the series was handled with 'sensitivity'.

But the charity, Teens and Toddlers, which runs classes for teenagers wanting a family in order to demonstrate the harsh reality of parenthood, denied taking any take part in the programme.

Director Peter Hein said they felt 'uncomfortable' when asked if they would get involved. 'We were not sure about the supervision and professionalism of those involved. We didn't get enough details. We declined to be involved further.'

The eight-episode fly-onthewall series will be shown on the digital channel BBC3 over eight days, starting next Monday, and is expected to be repeated on BBC1 or BBC2.

It features five teenage sets of 'parents' who are moved into a street of empty houses on the edge of Norwich.

After caring for their baby, the teenage couples are subsequently given a toddler to look after for three days, then a child under ten and finally a teenager. Up to 25 children - aged between six months and 14 years old - were used in the programme.

The BBC says it is designed to see how young people respond to being a parent at a time when Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.

The couples, Ryan and Lauren, Alex and Sam, Kayleigh and Carl, Kallai and Raiesa,

and Fisnik and Ava, attend ante-natal classes before ' giving birth' and are then filmed 24 hours a day with a baby 'donated' by real parents.

Some of the 'TV parents' even looked after two children at a time whilst juggling household budgets and their own relationships. The real parents of the babies and children watched the action unfold nearby via monitors, along with trained childcare professionals and registered childminders.

The show was made by Love Productions, which has previously produced a Channel 4 programme called Gay Muslims.

Executive producer Richard McKerrow said the company had advertised for babies and children to take part through parent-support organisations, mother-and-toddler groups, local councils and a variety of companies.

Those who responded included teachers, nurses and psychologists..

'The parents were not offered any inducements. They took part because they believed in the educational nature of the project, were not afraid of teenagers, and thought it would help teenagers learn and potentially help reduce teen pregnancies.'

Dr Caroline Ball, chairman of Norfolk's Local Safeguarding Children Board, said the county council had refused BBC requests to endorse the show.

'The whole project was misconceived,' she said. 'We asked BBC3 to reconsider making the programme from the start because we felt it was irresponsible exploitation.'