ABC's Reality Series "Find My Family" Stirs Controversy
posted by Maggie's Nest at
12/09/2009 
"Find My Family" is a limited-run reality series on ABC that helps reunite adoptees with their birth parents or other blood-related family members.
It seems to be the most wholesome and family-oriented program on television these days. So why is the show stirring controversy?
Think: Who are most likely to refuse adopted children be introduced to their real parents? The adoptive parents, of course!
Well, this does not mean that adoptive parents are selfish people but when they become so close with children who not related to them, there is always that fear of losing their adopted children. Either the children would beg to return back to their birth parents or the real parents would beg to be with their birth children - everything could happen after the reunion.
So it follows that after the success of "Find My Family," there are some groups representing adoptive parents that oppose the show's offering. They say the show is exploitative. According to Martha Osborne, founder of an adoption advocacy site, the show is filming people having "an emotional breakdown."
This reaction is apparently opposite to the views of birth parents who praise the show for promoting reunions between birth parents and adoptive children. Lorraine Dusky, a writer for a birth mother-focused site, praises the reality series for addressing the longing of adoptive children to discover their roots - "the most natural desire of consciousness."
To address the controversy, ABC has provided taped interviews with the show's co-hosts, Tim Green and Lisa Joyner. The co-hosts (who are also adoptees themselves) address the issues raised on the series including "Why the show is not exploitative."
In one of the interviews, Lisa Joyner points out that "Find My Family" differs in purpose from most reality shows because it is "not dealing with a thousand-dollar or million-dollar prize, or a shot at fame. The only prize - the only ultimate gift that these people get - is their family."
Point taken. Still, some questions remain hanging: Should the adoption drama be televised? Is a reality series about adoption, in reality, uplifting or upsetting?
For more information or to apply for ABC's "Find My Family" click on the link!
Also check out the New Faces Castings Calls for many other auditions on family reality series!
It seems to be the most wholesome and family-oriented program on television these days. So why is the show stirring controversy?
Think: Who are most likely to refuse adopted children be introduced to their real parents? The adoptive parents, of course!
Well, this does not mean that adoptive parents are selfish people but when they become so close with children who not related to them, there is always that fear of losing their adopted children. Either the children would beg to return back to their birth parents or the real parents would beg to be with their birth children - everything could happen after the reunion.
So it follows that after the success of "Find My Family," there are some groups representing adoptive parents that oppose the show's offering. They say the show is exploitative. According to Martha Osborne, founder of an adoption advocacy site, the show is filming people having "an emotional breakdown."
This reaction is apparently opposite to the views of birth parents who praise the show for promoting reunions between birth parents and adoptive children. Lorraine Dusky, a writer for a birth mother-focused site, praises the reality series for addressing the longing of adoptive children to discover their roots - "the most natural desire of consciousness."
To address the controversy, ABC has provided taped interviews with the show's co-hosts, Tim Green and Lisa Joyner. The co-hosts (who are also adoptees themselves) address the issues raised on the series including "Why the show is not exploitative."
In one of the interviews, Lisa Joyner points out that "Find My Family" differs in purpose from most reality shows because it is "not dealing with a thousand-dollar or million-dollar prize, or a shot at fame. The only prize - the only ultimate gift that these people get - is their family."
Point taken. Still, some questions remain hanging: Should the adoption drama be televised? Is a reality series about adoption, in reality, uplifting or upsetting?
For more information or to apply for ABC's "Find My Family" click on the link!
Also check out the New Faces Castings Calls for many other auditions on family reality series!
Labels: abc, Find My Family, Reality TV
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