Jerry Springer Wannabe?

This makes me ill. Stupid T.yra B.anks is doing a show on infertility and she thinks this makes a good premise:

DO YOU KNOW A WOMAN OBSESSED WITH BECOMING PREGNANT?

Do you know a woman who is obsessed with becoming a mom? Have you seen and heard her struggle for years, felt her unvoiced jealously and seen her desperation first hand? Have you watched silently for too long as she gets her hopes up only to be disappointed and heartbroken when she can’t conceive? Has she tried extreme methods and spent a lot of money to get pregnant with no luck? Do you want to finally tell her she needs to stop the emotional and physical stress on her body and seriously consider adoption or a surrogate alternative? If you know a woman who is obsessed with becoming a mom and getting pregnant, then SUBMIT BELOW.

Click here if you want to tell her how you feel about this premise. (Thanks to KYFTI for bringing this to my attention.) I just envision her having these poor women on stage and then their mothers and husbands and best friends coming on to berate them about how adoption will solve all their problems. Hello? Don't you think they've thought of that already?? If it does happen, I kind of hope these women go all Springer on their asses and throw some chairs. I know I would.

Here's what I submitted.

Dear Producers,

I'm writing to urge you to change the premise of this show before it films. While I'm thrilled that you are planning to do a show on infertility and the struggles associated with it, this lead-in makes me believe that the show will be slanted against the women who try so hard to create a family, by describing them as obsessed and trying to coerce them to pursue methods they’re not yet ready for. Perhaps we infertile women do seem "obsessed" with becoming a mom, but the word obsessed is just wrong here. It misses the point of the emotional and physical struggles we go through. People can be obsessed with toy trains or celebrity gossip, but becoming a mom goes way beyond that.

I hope that your show will address the myriad medical conditions that can contribute to infertility, rather than simply talking about it as its own condition (although admittedly, some cases are unexplained), and that you'll discuss why it becomes so important to women to become pregnant and give birth to their own child.

Suggesting that your reason for bringing these women on is to urge them to "stop the emotional and physical stress on (their) bod(ies) and seriously consider adoption or a surrogate alternative?" is not going to help anyone. You must know that they've probably considered these options in depth already? And certainly you don't believe that adoption or surrogacy will eradicate or even diminish the emotional loss associated with losing the biological connection to your child or missing out on the opportunity to become pregnant and give birth?

Please do not bring these women on simply to be attacked for their choices and to be pressured by friends and family to rush into adoption or surrogacy too soon. ALL infertile women have considered these options and are working toward making a decision whether or not to pursue them.

Thank you for turning your focus to this subject, but please do your research and tread lightly as there are so many women out there looking for a voice and who continue to be disappointed in the media portrayal of our problem. You have the opportunity to do a show that will HELP millions of women, but with your current premise you will simply end up HURTING the women who appear on the show.

Best,

E-