As president of AMC (American Movie Classics) Networks and WE: Women’s Entertainment, Kate McEnroe is used to making decisions that dictate on-air programming. And WE became cable’s fastest-growing entertainment network in 2001.
But on May 5, McEnroe moved to an on-screen position–something she abandoned after her Mason City, Iowa, weathergirl days–to host an evening of three original programs.
McEnroe, who admits to being uncomfortable in front of the camera, agreed to sit under the bright lights because she was personally and professionally committed to the content: the plight of children in foreign countries and the complexities of adopting them.
The WE prime-time lineup included an Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Artists and Orphans: A True Drama,” and “Mama Tina” and “Cool Women: A Romania Rescue,” shows about real-life experiences of children in Romania, Vietnam and Georgia (part of the former Soviet Union).
The trio developed after McEnroe adopted two babies from Romania. Originally directed toward international adoption because the now 47-year-old was told she was too old to adopt through domestic agencies, McEnroe and her husband, Scott Cullather, made five trips to Romania, including one for the millennium New Year’s Eve.
The couple originally intended to adopt just one child, Caitlin, their 3-year-old daughter, whom they brought home in February 2000.
But on one of their trips to Romania–a country with as many as 150,000 orphaned children under the age of 2, due partly to limited access to birth control–they “fell in love” with Christian. An infant who had been a ward of the state of Romania, Christian suffered from neglect and a number of health problems, but recovered after they brought him to the U.S. in July 2000. Trips to the formerly communist country included bringing donations of tennis shoes, clothing and blankets, rather than cash, which often did not make it to its intended recipient.
“This is the premise of what the show is all about, to raise awareness of international adoptions, not just at the personal level, but at congressional levels,” she says. Immigration and Naturalization Service red tape, erroneous press coverage in America about Romania and rumors there about why Americans would want to adopt Romanian children–one tale she heard involved Americans using the babies for body parts–fueled her decision to step in front of the camera.
How being a network executive helped her in the adoption process: My connections got me nowhere. Ms. Troop at the INS could care less what you do. Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton just adopted a child from Vietnam, and people asked [Jolie] the same question, and I laughed. It’s still all the same paperwork, to the INS, to the adoption agency, to the foreign country. I gave a different kind of birth. I gave birth to paperwork.
What Caitlin and Christian will know about Romania: This is not about turning them into Americans. Whenever we go to Romania, we bring back books, Romanian artwork and we keep in contact with the orphanage. We are members of the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce and we get together with a group of parents who adopted Romanian children in New York, so they know each other.
What happens once these WE programs have aired: It is an ongoing mission for us. Not just because it touched my life, but because everyone in the network group participated in watching me bring the children over, the struggle of getting Caitlin out of the country. We are developing television that allows women to rejuvenate, relax and simplify their lives.
How TV can help kids who live without basic nutrition and medical care: We hope to break down some of the mystiques and barriers about this. TV is a medium where people form their opinions based on the information that is given. We hope that advertisers will look at underwriting more of these kinds of programs.
On the downside of adoption: I am thrilled with my children, I love my children, but there is this memory of the children left behind, and that will never go away. I think of them, sometimes two or three to a crib, just looking up at us.
On how being a mother changed her: I didn’t know what these working moms were stressed out about. Honestly, I was very naive. You become so time deprived. Now, I look for ways to simplify my life. I look for how to cut corners, to cut things that used to be so important to me. [Before] if there was a big presentation, I’d make sure that my clothes and my hair would be perfect. Now, so long as there is not a stain on my outfit–or if there is only one–then, it is a good day.
