The woman whose adoption story inspired the hit movie, The Blindside, is debuting in a new television series designed to help families get through the adoption process.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that Leigh Anne Tuohy, the adoptive mother of Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher, will star in the new UP reality-TV-show, Family Addition, that follows the lives of families seeking to adopt a child and helps them navigate the many hurdles they encounter.
For example, one episode follows the Jackson family from Los Angeles who started out wanting to adopt two boys and ended up adopting seven siblings in addition to their own biological children.
Even families who don’t wish to adopt can benefit from the show because they can learn how to better support adoptive families they may know.
“We are taking one family at a time and we are trying to make a difference,” said Leigh Anne Tuohy.
She decided to get involved with the UP’s Family Addition because “it just enhances our platform and our message” that “every child is valuable” and “every kid in every country of this world is valuable and worth having a forever family,” she told CNA.
The show premiers this Friday, June 7, and will feature a different family each week.
Tuohy hopes the show will help the public become aware of just how difficult the adoption process is in the U.S. help to change some of the laws to “make sure that every single child gets a chance,” she explained.
“We’re very simple people and God has picked us to tell a message,” she said. “That is why we’re putting ourselves out there; because we want to make sure that people realize there are valuable kids in every city in the United States of America and all they need is a chance.”
The adoption process is tough, but so is “everything in life that’s worthwhile.”
Ultimately, she hopes the show will get out the message that “there are no unwanted kids; just unfound families.”
Click here for more information about show times in your area.