Meet Karson’s parents

BOISE – A controversial new reality show premieres on NBC Wednesday night.

"The first question everyone always asks is, 'Who would give up their babies to a bunch of teenagers that they don't know, who on earth would do this?" said Tom Shelley, executive producer

That’s a good question -- and one that a lot of people ask when learning the premise of NBC's newest reality show -- one that is set right here in the Treasure Valley.

Baby Borrowers is about teenaged couples taking the express route to parenthood, but it's not actually their children.

NewsChannel 7 talked to a local couple that allowed their baby to be borrowed.

At first blush this sounds sensational, maybe even irresponsible, but those involved with the local filming of Baby Borrowers say it's not as crazy as it appears.

Here's the plot -- teenaged couples who think they're ready for the real world get a dose of what that's actually like.  They move into an Eagle subdivision, and as the show title suggests -- they tackle parenthood with the full-time care of borrowed babies.

"The radical notion here is the lending of babies to teenaged couples.  And, if you tell anyone that, the immediate thought is, 'You've done what?! And you've done it for a reality television show?'  This is outrageous, this is terrible!" said Richard McKerrow.

That may be just the reaction Richard McKerrow is looking for.  He is the creator of NBC's provocative new show called Baby Borrowers.  But the reality behind the reality show is that these babies weren't just thrown on the set as precious props.

"I stayed the whole time with him," said Kristi Pew.

Kristi and Daniel Pew, the Boise parents of two should know. Their son Karson was one of those borrowed babies. 

"I don't think they would have said, just drop off your child and leave for four days.  I don't think some of us parents would have even remotely thought of doing that," said Kristi Pew.

Instead, these moms and dads were on hand -- and in some cases -- on set.  The show also had full-time, professional nannies and closed circuit television cameras in nearly every room of every house.

Unlike most reality shows -- no one gets kicked off, no one wins a prize, no one -- not even the parents or babies get paid.

Instead, producers and participants hope lessons are learned.

"I'm looking forward to the impact it could have.  Will families really sit around the TV and watch it and talk about it and learn from it?  I think that's what I'm excited to see is the outcome of what the show can do?" said Kristi Pew.

If things got out of hand on set, the parents were allowed to intervene.

And that's exactly what Kristi Pew had to do.

This afternoon on KTVB.COM and on News at Six, find out what pushed her over the edge and in front of the cameras.