Common Sense Media Review
By Kari Croop
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Emotional adoption show reunites long-lost families.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
In each episode of FIND MY FAMILY, host Tim Green (a former Atlanta Falcons linebacker) and co-host Lisa Joyner bring adopted children and their birth parents together, walking them through the deeply emotional process of reuniting after decades apart. (It's a process that Green and Joyner understand all too well -- both hosts were also adopted.) The show was inspired by a successful Australian series of the same name, which owes its format to the Dutch series Lost Without a Trace.
Is It Any Good?
Don't be surprised if you start tearing up five minutes into this show. After all, it's heavy, emotional stuff -- and it was dreamed up by the producer of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, another surefire tearjerker. The fact that both Green and Joyner come from adoptive families adds even more depth and sincerity to the experience, but you don't need to have a direct connection to the adoption process to appreciate what the featured families are going through. Their emotions are captured in such a raw, inspiring way that you can't help but be affected by their stories. So tune in ... but don't forget the tissues.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the show serves a positive social function by helping people pull off something they've been struggling to do on their own for years. What tools do the show's producers have at their disposal that ordinary people don't?
Do you think the show exploits the families' stories to any extent? What steps have the producers taken to show sensitivity to their subject?
What types of emotions are involved when long-lost family members who've never truly met before are finally reunited? Do you think the emotions you're seeing on the show are at all affected by the presence of cameras and the producers' attempts to set up "shots"?
TV Details
- Premiere date : November 23, 2009
- Cast : Lisa Joyner , Tim Green
- Network : ABC
- Genre : Reality TV
- Character Strengths : Compassion
- TV rating :
- Last updated : December 8, 2025
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