What happens when you put a pair of clueless teenagers and a baby in a house and shut the door? It sounds like the start of a bad joke. As it happens, however, it is the inspiration for a new reality television show in Germany.

The show is the brainchild of private broadcaster RTL and is called "Erwachsen auf Probe," which can be loosly translated as "Maturity Test." They selected four teenaged couples, planted them in suburban homes and presented them with a baby to care for. Then, as the cameras rolled, the teenagers played parent.

For four days and nights, the teens tended to their adoptive bundles of joy, only to discover -- as the RTL Web site reveals prior to the show's going on air at the beginning of June -- that bundles of joy scream, defecate and don't always sleep when bidden.

Child protection authorities in Germany are appalled. Politicians too have gotten into the act as the debate has washed over Germany.

The association of German midwives called the show "a new form of prostitution." The Federation for the Protection of Children is "horrified," and believes the show "endangers children's wellbeing." The media representative of the Protestant Church says the show "blatantly oversteps the line." The commission for children in the German parliament decries the "irresponsible instrumentalization of children" while the federal board of psychotherapists is calling for stricter legislation to protect children under three years from "Big Brother Experiments."

Responding to the outcry, RTL invited interested parties to the broadcaster's studios in Cologne to discuss the show. Aside from yet more free publicity, however, little is likely to come out of the meeting. Calls for the show's cancellation were shot down last week by the supervisory body of the state media authorities, which stated that a prohibition would contravene censorship laws.

Furthermore the body that monitors German television authorized the first episodes of "Maturity Test" for viewing after 8 p.m. and has no objections. Their eight-page assessment, obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, attests that "the participants are not made ... into mere objects of voyeuristic desire" and it commends the depiction of babies as "personalities with communicative and social -- and not just physical -- needs."

RTL spokesman Franz Rendez, for his part, professes to be baffled by the volume of "uninformed criticism" from people who haven't even seen the show. "The parents were there the entire time," he said in a telephone interview before SPIEGEL ONLINE could even get the question out. "You can even see them in the show, suggesting the blue pacifier instead of the yellow one."

Rendez refutes outright that the babies were put at risk, saying that the ratio of adults -- including child psychologist and doctor -- to baby was a dream compared to any kindergarten or daycare. Furthermore the biological parents, who were paid only "token compensation" for the use of their babies, had "tons of fun," and many intend to use the teenage parents as babysitters in the future.

Critics, though, aren't concerned about the parents. They say that babies at that age are put under tremendous stress when forced to spend extended time away from their parents. Some say the damage can be lasting.

The show is an adaptation of the BBC's "The Baby Borrowers" which is used for pedagogical purposes in British classrooms. Belgium, Holland and the USA have also run spinoffs.

Rendez sees the show as an ideal "test of social maturity" for teenagers, and believes it will reach its target audience. "How do you get the attention of young people today?" he asks. "Certainly not with dry academic publications."