Strangers Making Babies is the brand new series coming to Channel 4 – here’s all you need to know.
Strangers Making Babies follows a group of single, would-be parents looking for a platonic partner to have a baby with, without the complication of finding love first.
Channel 4 explain: “A baby-making revolution is underway – there are currently 70,000 people signed up to co-parenting sites, looking for platonic partners to have children with. However, these unregulated websites are often full of unvetted strangers.
“In response, a group of experts, led by fertility specialist Dr Marie Wren, have created a comprehensive and unprecedented vetting and matching scheme to help single people find the perfect co-parent.”
The series will follow a group of single men and women who all share their desire to have a baby. Paired up by the experts, they will meet and spend time together to establish if there’s a connection and try to work out whether or not to have a baby. But does redefining relationships go against human nature? And can a platonic arrangement actually lead to making babies?
Strangers Making Babies currently airs Wednesday nights at 11PM on Channel 4. The series has four episodes. You can watch online and catch up via All 4.
Strangers Making Babies episodes
Episode 1 – 23 March
In episode 1 we meet two women and six men who are searching for someone to have a baby with in a non-traditional, platonic co-parenting arrangement. Guided by fertility specialist Dr Marie Wren and matchmaking expert Gillian McCallum, the two women are matched with a range of carefully selected and vetted men, who also hope to become co-parents.
Venicia, a 34-year-old professional nanny to high-profile families, who longs to have a baby of her own meets Nigel, Vik and Jean-Paul.
Sarah, a 39-year-old amateur ballroom dancer from Surrey, would have loved to have had a baby in the traditional way but feels she simply hasn’t met the right person in time. She is matched with Ian, Chris and Chris. With arguably the biggest single decision of their lives ahead of them, will any of the pairings have enough potential to move forward to the next stage?
Episode 2 – 31 March
In this second episode, 34-year-old nanny Venicia from Hertfordshire and 39-year-old amateur ballroom dancer Sarah from Surrey spend more time with the men they’ve been matched with.
We also meet 39-year-old businesswoman Trinity from Essex, who previously considered raising a child on her own, but a pneumonia health scare made her realise how important it is for a child to have two parents. She’s matched with Ian, Jean-Paul and Nigel.
After spending more time with the potential dads-to-be, Sarah and Trinity meet up with fertility specialist Dr Marie Wren and matchmaker Gillian McCallum to discuss which two men they each want to take forward to the next stage. But could romantic advances get in the way of a co-parenting partnership? And can the candidates agree on the logistics of raising a child together?
Episode 3 – 7 April
In this episode, as the big decision builds Venicia and Sarah introduce their potential matches to friends and family. With her friendship developing with Chris, Sarah also travels to Manchester with her best friend to meet up with radio station owner Ian, hoping to narrow down her decision. However, she leaves conflicted as both men seem like equally great options.
Businesswoman Trinity also meets her potential matches for a second time and discusses in depth with musician Nigel how having a child may affect their careers. While he doesn’t see romance on the cards, Trinity confesses she feels a spark. But midway through the process, the pandemic hits and communication between the would-be co-parents is forced to shift online.
Once restrictions have been lifted and face-to-face meetings are allowed to resume, Trinity has a second meeting with Jean-Paul and admits she’s unsure about whether to continue in the process. Sarah and Venicia make their final decisions about who they would like to co-parent with and invite the men to spend a weekend away together.
Episode 4 – 14 April
In the last episode of the series, 35-year-old nanny Venicia and 39-year-old amateur ballroom dancer Sarah embark on weekends away with their chosen potential dads-to-be, with the aim of exploring and deepening their friendships. But tensions begin to mount as the biggest decision of their lives looms.
Nigel and Venicia’s weekend gets off to a positive start, but have changes in Nigel’s personal life affected his priorities? And are his and Venicia’s plans still compatible? Sarah travels to Manchester to stay with Ian and reveals that she is moving to Cornwall, even further away from Ian’s home and business.
As they grapple with the thorny issue of location, Sarah worries that things may be in jeopardy, despite having seemingly found her perfect co-parent. With tough topics to discuss, Dr Marie Wren provides both couples with questionnaires to encourage them to discuss a raft of tricky subjects including religion, finance, medical history and methods of conception.
Strangers Making Babies airs Wednesdays at 11PM on Channel 4.
More on: Channel 4
