Five Couples Vie for Chance to Adopt Baby Boy

April 26, 2004 -- In a unique television event, Barbara Walters documents a young birth mother's journey as she selects who, among five anxious couples vying for a child of their own, will become parents to her child.

The 20/20 special: Be My Baby airs this Friday, April 30 at 10 p.m. ET.

"I was basically deciding if they're going to have children or not. I was kind of playing God," says Jessica, 16, about her heartwrenching choice of who would adopt and raise her unborn baby boy while allowing her to continue to play a part in his life.

20/20 cameras are there as each couple tries to convince the pregnant girl that they would be the best parents for her soon-to-be-born baby. But after all of the heartache, will the 8½-month pregnant high school sophomore really be ready to sign away her legal rights once the baby is born and she can hold him in her arms?

Jessica, who dreams of becoming a nurse one day, says she wants to keep the baby, but her mother and stepfather believe it would be too hard on the family. Jessica reluctantly agrees, as long as it is an open adoption, allowing her and her entire family to be a part of the baby's life. So with the guidance of "A Child's Waiting" adoption agency, Jessica and her mother select five families to interview and they become the judge and jury in an extraordinary competition. "You don't want to goof anything like this up — it's too important. It involves a baby's life," says Beth Anne, Jessica's mom.

20/20 cameras were there last October when the competition for Jessica's baby began as the five families arrived at the agency one by one. Each couple would try to convince Jessica that they should be the parents of her unborn son.

Karen and Tab Brown, mortgage broker and sales executive The Browns have been married for 10 years and have a son Trace, 8. They desperately want a brother for Trace. Their second child died shortly after his birth. They are Jessica's first choice on paper.

"We were joking about the fact that it's like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette. You're in or you're out tonight," says Tab.

Jessica: "I thought about how good it would be if I was able to place my son with them. It would be like giving them the baby that they lost."

Steve and Kathy Fellinger, police officer and administrative assistantThe Fellingers always wanted a big family. They adopted their first son, Nathan, who was born two months premature, barely clinging to life. He is now a healthy toddler. "It will be devastating if we're not picked," says Steve.

Jessica: "I thought they were very kind people and they genuinely had good hearts because of their one son that they adopted … even though he might not have been a healthy baby."

Tina and Daniel McKeen, high school Spanish teacher and math teacherAdoption is their last hope to have a child. Over the last four years, Tina has undergone several unsuccessful surgeries for infertility. "There were things that I wouldn't even anticipate would make me cry … I took a different route in the store because I didn't want to walk by all the baby products," says Tina.

They are the only couple without a child, a fact that concerns Jessica: "I didn't want him [her baby] to be an only child and just sit around all day and not have any brothers and sisters to play with or anything."

Steve and Joyce Strasser, reconcilersThe Strassers, an older couple, have an adopted daughter from the same agency. Says Steven: "I hate to even think about it this way — but it is a marketing thing. You are marketing yourself."

Jessica: "I like this family because [they] adopted a child before and it's open adoption."

Beth and Matt Trnka, warehouse supervisor and physical therapistThe Trnkas are high school sweethearts who have one daughter after four miscarriages and a dangerous tubal pregnancy. They tried to adopt before but the birth mother decided to keep the baby they were selected to adopt. "We thought … here it is. We're gonna have a baby boy. And, and it was … another heartbreak," says Beth.

Jessica: "I like Matt and Beth because … they stress that it's important that the baby knows who the parents are and they're a very close-knit family."

So who will Jessica choose? "It's probably one of the biggest decisions I'm ever going to have to make in my life," she says. And Tina McKeen agrees: "Here was a 16-year-old who was in total control of our lives. She had in her hands our happiness."

20/20 cameras are there as Jessica selects a family to adopt her baby. But this is not the end … Jessica is still not sure she will be able to place her son for adoption. "How am I going to give this little baby to somebody else? … I'm going back on this whole adoption thing … don't want to do it," Jessica admits. And nothing is final until she signs relinquishment papers. Under Ohio law she must wait 72 hours before being allowed to terminate her parental rights. According to some experts, up to 30 percent of all birth mothers change their minds before they sign. And even Jessica's mother, who had initially pushed for adoption, wasn't ready for the love she felt for her first grandchild.

In the end, who will raise the little baby boy? There are many surprises along the way. 20/20 visits Jessica, the baby and all five families six months later to see how it all turned out.