Want a good cry? Try 'Adoption Diaries'

I don't know what companies are advertising in the premiere of WE tv's "Adoption Diaries" (10 p.m. Saturday) but it really ought to be tissue company. The show is a total weep-fest sure to stir the hearts of the mommy viewers who posted their support of Jennifer Antkowiak earlier this week and maybe even a cynic such as myself. (Not that I'm confirming that I reached for the Kleenex, I'm just saying it's possible.)

The show premieres this weekend with a one-hour episode that was not made available for review. I did see the episode airing Sept. 19 that features Janelle, 21, who plans to put her baby up for adoption when it's born. Enter Mimi and Michael Shrall of Fishers, Ind., who plan to adopt the baby boy they have already named Owen.

It's a little difficult to watch the excitement of the adoptive parents knowing the pain the birth mother will soon go through but eventually everyone shares in that sadness. And because the show only chronicles open adoptions, Janelle will continue to have some contact with her child, which makes watching it more bearable.

This episode did not spend a lot of time showing the Shralls and Janelle hammer out a visitation agreement, which open adoption facilitator Jennifer Bliss says is an important part of the process. But it does include updates on both Janelle and the Shralls several months after Owen's birth.

At a press conference last month, the Shralls and Janelle said they chose to have their situations recorded for television for the benefit of Owen. And it does feel more like a document in its docu-drama form than a reality show, whose involvement of children I've opposed.

"This is the most tremendous gift we could ever give our son," Mimi Shrall said. "How many adoptees have a documentary of before, during and after their birth, who their birth mom is and her story and see how much she loves her baby? This way he can see it."

"Adoption Diaries" seems like it could pretty easily get stuck in a formulaic rut, which is probably good if adoptions proceed as they should, but that doesn't make for dramatic TV.