TV Series - Paid Teen Bariatric Surgery

[HeatherD43 1]

Hi All,

I work for a TV production company in LA called This is Just a Test (tijat.com) and we're developing an unscripted TV series about adolescent/teen bariatric surgery. If you or someone you know is between the ages of 14-18 and is interested in having a bariatric operation, we'd love to follow your journey and help cover the cost of your surgery. I'd love to discuss the series further. Please email me at casting@tijat.com. Look forward to hearing from you! Best, Heather

[Clementine Sky 707]

I haven't encountered many teens on this forum, but if they're here I hope they and their parents are wise enough to not become a part of this exploitative show.

[HeatherD43 1]

@@Clementine Sky This is an educational documentary series. While I understand and appreciate that TV isn't for everyone, I hope that anyone interested would reach out for more information and figure out if its a good fit or not. This post was light on information, but I appreciate your thoughts.

[Clementine Sky 707]

"Educational" documentary series have been woefully exploitative, especially of minors. Teens who are candidates for bariatric surgery have likely experienced social ramifications such as bullying or exclusion, and this would make them vulnerable to more negative treatment.

What sort of safeguards do the producers have in place to make sure the teens are psychologically resilient enough to not only go through bariatric surgery, but to have it portrayed on camera for the world at large to watch and judge? Shows of this nature often have a very basic psychological screening beforehand, and offer little support once the cameras have stopped rolling.

[Djmohr 6,965]

I have not seen any teens on this site for the most part. I do have mixed feelings about this but mostly I would support it. Honestly so many folks that are obese and super obese have been suffering since they were young children and the child obesity rate continues to soar.

I say this all the time, if I could have done this when I was young I certainly would not have all this damage to my body. I had surgery at 51 and wish I would have done it in my early 20's. I just didn't know enough and honestly did not realize the sheer damage one can do.

For me, my spine is a complete disaster. I have had to have 6 spine surgeries and I am permanently disabled. I have also had to have shoulder surgery for the same reason. Osteo arthritis. Too much wear and tear on my joints. Not not mention that being younger might help with things like excess skin and building longer term good habits at a much younger age.

While I do understand the issue about exploiting children, the damage to them from everything that results with child obesity might be even worse.

If a documentary show helps even a small number of children make better life decisions then honestly I am for it.

I do understand that this might not be popular with others on this site but so be it. My opinion comes from my personal experiences and I think that something like this would have educated me at a much younger age. I will say that I was overweight in my teens and became obese in my early 20's.

Had I been obese as a child it would have been absolutely devastating and my head would have been more messed up than what it was.

This is just my opinion.......

[HeatherD43 1]

@@Clementine Sky Hi Clementine, We're teaming up with a facility that has a tremendous pre-surgery program. It's 6-12 months of evaluations (physical, mental, etc) and diagnostics to ensure that these teens are ready for surgery. This will go beyond traditional TV background checks. These pre-surgery evaluations will include readiness for TV. I don't believe everyone will be right for this show, but if we can help the ones who are, that would be tremendous. There is a lot of research saying that many people aren't even aware that teens can have these types of surgeries done so hopefully we can help spread the word as well. There is also a lot of research stating that obese and overweight teens are likely to develop health complications as adults. Thanks again for you thoughts.

[HeatherD43 1]

@@Djmohr Thanks for sharing your personal story. The doctors we're teaming up with spoke very extensively with us about wanting to help teens and adolescents with their weight loss before they have to deal with a myriad of health complications as adults. They also said that these kids are totally different people after their surgeries. They are happy, confident and free from the devastating depression that many of them experienced pre-surgery. These kids are also monitored for life after these surgeries. I appreciate your insight and while it may not be the most popular step, for some kids it can be a real life changer. Thanks again.

[Clementine Sky 707]

I'm absolutely for teens who qualify for bariatric surgery receiving it if they, their parents, and their physicians believe they are physically and psychologically ready for it. An increasing number of pediatricians are aware of the benefits of bariatric surgery and talking to their patients about it. I just worry about the social and psychological impact of having kids go through the experience on camera. The additional information provided hasn't assuaged concerns much.