reality tv

Labor of Love: The wild new reality show where 15 men compete to impregnate a woman.

 

Kristy Katzmann has always wanted to start a family of her own.

But after getting divorced after just six months of marriage at 37 years old, the Chicago woman began to fear that her time was running out.

“All the sacrificing I did, all the hard work, why did I do it?” Kristy said.

Watch the trailer for new reality show, Labor of Love, below. Post continues after video.

Now, at 41 years old, the divorcee and successful career woman is ready to embark on motherhood alone.

“I’ve just gotten out of a relationship. I’ve been trying to navigate dating, knowing that I still want to start a family and that time was definitely not on my side. I think it’s a really incredible story that a lot of women will be able to relate to,” she told Fox News.

But instead of going down the more traditional path of visiting a sperm bank or considering adoption, she’s going to spend the next few weeks meeting with a group of 15 eligible – and fertile – bachelors in the hopes of finding a man… to impregnate her.

Yep, it’s basically The Bachelorette… for baby making.

It’s not a dating show, it’s a mating show. (I’m sorry).

Listen to the latest episode of Mamamia’s daily entertainment podcast, The Spill, below. Post continues after podcast.

Hosted by Sex and the City star Kristen Davis, new US reality show Labor of Love follows Kristy as she assesses the fatherly qualities of 15 potential suitors.

As the show’s tagline states: “Skip the dating and go straight to baby-making”.

The pool of men featured on the show includes a doctor, a CEO a former professional wrestler, and a tennis instructor.

While the first episode of The Bachelorette typically begins with a cocktail party, the first episode of Labor of Love was a little more, erm, personal.

After Kristy met the 15 men, waiters passed out specimen cups to the suitors, who then entered a mobile collection centre to provide sperm samples.

Speaking to ETOnline, Kristy describe the sperm testing ‘challenge’ as “awkward”.

“Talk about awkward first date, I mean, this really is the king right here. But, you know, even though it was uncomfortable, secretly, I was so pleased because we needed to set this tone right off the bat,” she said.

“These guys said they were there and ready to become fathers, but what better way to test them than put them through something like this?

“Any man who was willing to do this right after meeting me on TV, he’s pretty serious about the process. So in a weird way, it actually like, calmed any fears I had about these men not being here for the right reasons.”

Following the test, one of the men, Alan, a writer from South Africa, is awarded a trophy (yes, really) for having the highest sperm count.

As love is considered “optional” on the show, the tasks and dates that the men go on, such as looking after children at a party and simulating labor pains, are all designed to indicate their fatherly qualities.

As for the show’s elimination process, Kristy eliminates potential baby daddy’s on an iPad app.

Yep, we’ve officially reached the peak of reality TV. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Since the series began airing in the US, the show has been labelled “appalling” by viewers.

“Someone please tell me that I am NOT the only one totally appalled. Did we not learn our lessons from all the failed Bachelor/Bachelorette relationships,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“I don’t think this is the best way to bring a baby into this world,” another shared online.

“This is just gross,” another said.

It’s currently unclear whether Labor of Love will premiere on Australian screens.

Feature Image: YouTube.


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Top Comments

This is yet more disgusting commodification of women’s reproductive process. This is “normalising” the exploitation of women as “gestational carriers”, it’s glamourising “surrogacy”, and it worst it completely erases us as mothers and exploits us as human beings by paying women who are vulnerable and disenfranchised as “surrogates”. Make no mistake, the patriarchy seeks to devalue women’s role in society even further. 
snorks 4 years ago
@lilith lamont tordenvaer Or, this woman knows exactly what she wants and is doing something unusual to get it.

She's educated, works in a start up, but for whatever reason her marriage failed 5 years ago and is now trying for a child. She could have tried the 'normal' way of doing things but she's chosen to do this. I don't agree with it but I don't particularly care about her either (though I hope everything works out for her). 

You don't give women enough credit, they can make decisions on their own. 

Dear God! How much lower can reality TV go? What do we know about the suitability of this woman to be a single mother? She’s been a career woman for many years and motherhood’s bloody hard work at times. The whole thing just seems so tacky.
Jessica Staveley 4 years ago

It's such a crazy concept, hey! It'll be interesting to see whether a baby actually comes out of this. Imagine telling your child that they were born after a reality TV show... crazy!!!