Louis Theroux's Altered States

The documentary-maker explores how adoption is a big business in California

The documentary-maker explores how adoption is a big business in California, meeting agencies, facilitators and lawyers matching babies to parents, with the adoption process often costing as much as $50,000. He meets families that have spent vast sums on children they are unable to conceive themselves, and women preparing to give up their babies, hearing the stories of poverty, addiction and abuse that have inspired their decision. He also discovers how the adoption process is open to abuse, and reflects on what happens when a mother has a post-birth change of heart