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PRIMETIME: FAMILY SECRETS
Air Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Time Slot: 10:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on ABC
Episode Title: (#F105) "FAMILY SECRETS"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

A RARE LOOK AT TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ADOPTION, ON "PRIMETIME: FAMILY SECRETS," TUESDAY, JULY 24 ON ABC

Teen pregnancy was once the kind of family secret that caused shame and whispering. This week "Primetime: Family Secrets" takes viewers on this emotional journey today with two pregnant teenagers facing the heart-breaking decision of whether or not to give their babies away. From selecting new parents to letting go of their babies, Cynthia McFadden reports on the difficult decisions and the intimate process, on "Primetime: Family Secrets," TUESDAY, JULY 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Four years in the making, the program documents the lives of two pregnant teenage girls, Brookanne and Erin, living together in a unique dorm setting at the Gladney Center for Adoption, a not-for-profit agency in Fort Worth, Texas. The hour follows their struggle as they face the biggest decision they may ever make -- to place their unborn babies for adoption.

Brookanne was a 15-year-old high school sophomore in Texas when she learned she was pregnant. She recognized early on the difficulties of being such a young mother. "Me and my mother and my father, we all decided trying to raise a baby at 15 is hard. I'm not ready to be a mother," she tells "Primetime." And 18-year-old Erin had just received a financial scholarship for college and was happily anticipating the next phase of her life when she discovered she was pregnant. For her, the decision is further complicated by her family's financial hardships. After considering her options, Erin decides to place her baby for adoption. "We were struggling, and I've always heard the saying, �If you can't afford to feed yourself, you can't afford to feed a baby.' So that was the main factor. I just really wanted her to have a stress-free life."

With unparalleled access, "Primetime" follows their daily lives at the adoption agency -- the doctor's appointments and counseling sessions, the crying and the heartbreak of the wrenching decision that lies ahead. Viewers witness the touching process they go through to choose and meet the couple they hope will be the "perfect" parents for their children. "Primetime" is with the girls as they give birth and, within days, face the moment they've thought about so much. It's a bittersweet story full of laughter and tears about the true meaning of sacrifice and love.

David Sloan is the executive producer of "Primetime: Family Secrets."

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