Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Perspective from a family on the path to adoption


I recently saw this story on NPR: “How Evangelical Christians Are Preaching: The New Gospel Of Adoption”. The following is my response to it. 

The recent story on “How Evangelical Christians Are Preaching: The New Gospel Of Adoption” begins in a way that may seem innocuous to most people, stating, “We're used to thinking of adoption as a way for infertile couples or single people to start a family or take in a child in need of a home.” While I cannot argue that many people maybe “used” to thinking this way about adoption, statements such as these perpetuate a way of thinking that places adoption in a second class tier of family ties.

Adoption is as beautiful and caring of a way to bring a child into a loving family as any other means. You would never say this is my son who was born via cesarean section, or this is my daughter who was born premature, because it only describes how they came into your family. Likewise “adoption” only describes how a child came into a family, and should have no bearing on how a family’s relationship is viewed.

Whether you bring your child into your family the traditional way or by other means, every story is different and precious to that family. Undermining one form of “bringing a child home,” because it does not conform to “tradition,” is a disservice to all families. 



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