Adoption is big business
Most people seeking to adopt want a baby. There are few real orphans
that are young and healthy enough to be desirable for people seeking
to adopt, so "orphans" are created artificially to supply
the market for babies.
The adoption industry operates by creating a cultural expectation
of adoption for the sons and daughters of non-traditional mothers
and then exploits that expectation for personal and financial gain.
The major players in adoption have the role of Client, Broker, Product
and Source.
The Client in Adoption
The client in adoption is the customer, the prospective adopter.
Many prospective adopters are infertile, some as a result of STDs,
obesity, unhealthy habits like drinking, smoking or drugs, environmental
toxins or waiting too long to have their own children. Others have
an unavoidable medical condition, are single, gay or would prefer
to purchase a child rather than be bothered with a pregnancy.
The Broker in Adoption
The broker may be an agency, social worker, lawyer, doctor, religious
minister, or even an individual soliciting to obtain a child for her
own use. Usually the broker benefits through fees or donations to
the "charitable" work of finding babies for people to adopt.
Infants "sell" for anywhere from $10,000 on up into the
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most brokers enjoy "angel"
status in addition to the monetary benefits.
The Product for Adoption
The "product" that the adoption industry sells is human
children and a promise of "real parenthood". Some customers
also enjoy the status of "savior" that comes with adopting
a child that seems to have been "abandoned" by her mother.
The most in demand are healthy infants, especially white infants.
Babies may be taken from family as a way of committing genocide on
a population. Examples of this are the Aborigines in Australia, the
Native Americans in the United States and Canada. It was expected
to take several generations of interbreeding to make "them"
disappear and be indistinguishable from whites. Taking babies from
single parents is a kind of genocide as well, with churches hoping
to wipe out any instances of "family" that don't meet their
idea of the ideal "legitimate" family. Whether taking children
from Buddhists to "convert" into Christians or taking children
of single parents and their families, these child-transfer programs
are always promoted as being all about the interests of the child.
In reality they child often suffers as her heritage is denounced as
inferior and she experiences feelings of rejection and loss.
The Source of Babies for Adoption
The source of the product is a mother who is naive or temporarily
without resources. She is most likely in college or college-bound,
from a higher socioeconomic background and an intact family. Mothers
from a less-affluent situation may be used as well. Often they already
have one or more children who will miss their brother or sister and
be affected by having a mother who is suffering over the loss of her
beloved baby. It's easy to take advantage of a mother who is experiencing
morning sickness and other effects of pregnancy. Some mothers are
lured in to adoption industry websites while looking up scholarship
information on the web. Others are solicited through business cards,
newspaper ads or "Dear Birthmother" ads. Once a mother has
been targeted she often has a difficult time getting rid of brokers
(or an individual) even after she has said a definitive "no".
No mother can imagine in advance the joy she will feel holding and
caring for her child or how painful it will be for her when her child
is gone. Her "shameful" motherhood may have been legally
discarded but in truth she will always be the mother of her child.
Read More:"Birthmother's
Day" Celebrations - Celebrating "birthmotherhood"
is celebrating the oppression of single moms to get babies for adopters.
Adoption Promoted by President George
Dubya Bush
George W. Bush promotes adoption and he also promotes Maternity Homes/
Baby Farming - a GREAT way to get more healthy American babies for
people to buy.
State
of the Union Address
George Bush and his "culture of life":
"To build a culture of life, we must also ensure that scientific
advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives
for the benefit of others. We should all be able to agree on some
clear standards. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos
are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that
human life is never bought or sold as a commodity."
Isn't adoption " taking advantage of some lives for the benefit
of others"? What about reproductive technologies like sperm,
egg and embryo "donation"? Does the adopted or created person
get a choice whether to be raised by unrelated buyers who may be aging
fundamentalist Christians or aging lesbians - or politicians?
Not every country charges money for adoptions or allows payment for
the raw materials - human sperm or eggs - to create a human being.
Adoption as Ownership of a Human Being
An adult can take responsibility for a child through various means
such as custody or guardianship in which the child retains her original
birth certificate with her name and her mother's name on it.
But when an adoption occurs, the original birth certificate is sealed.
This sealing of the birth certificate is not done upon relinquishment
- it is only done if the child is adopted. This timing is significant
because the adoption industry insists that the sealing is done in
the interests of mothers who were promised "confidentiality".
Most mothers welcome contact with their child and many fathers do
as well. All parents have a moral responsibility for their child even
if that child has been adopted-out. Adopted persons who desire to
know their heritage must be given the legal right to do so.
When an adoption takes place, a falsified document called an "amended"
birth certificate is generated. On this falsified document, the child's
name is usually changed and the adopter's name shown as the one who
gave birth to the child. The date and place of birth may be changed
on this falsified document as well - making it difficult for the adopted
person, even into adulthood, to find his natural mother, father, siblings
and other relatives.
Rationalizations for Adoption
"... one in every six couples of childbearing age is infertile,
a 100% increase in 20 years." --Infertility and Adoption, A Guide
for Social Work Practice, Deborah Valentine, Editor (1988)
Infertility is increasing. But there are many other social forces
at work. Adoption is used to wipe out cultures considered "undesirable",
or to build up "desirable" ones. Buddhist or Native American
babies may be transferred to white Christians, babies of parents who
are single at the time of birth are transferred to married people.
Adoption means real families will be torn apart - including mothers,
fathers, grandparents, siblings. There are many rationalizations for
adoption. Some believe single women who bring a child into the world
deserve to be punished cruelly - and it doesn't matter how their child
will be affected. Having the "out" of being able to abandon
their child through adoption makes it possible for men to shirk responsibility
for contraception/abstinence and for their children as well. Grandparents
especially hate to see their sons "suffer" by having to
support their own child. Once a child is in the hands of the adopters,
just the fact that they have gotten this unrelated child to call them
"mom" and "dad" helps adopters put forth the idea
that God "made a mistake" and really intended this beautiful
baby for them. Many people complain that television talk shows and
game shows are exploiting adoption - but in reality adoption itself
is exploitation.
It's easy to see who the real client is in adoption - it's not the
child and it's not the child's mother or father. It's the people hoping
to adopt the perfect healthy infant of their dreams.
My least favorite thing to see on an adoption agency or adoption
attorney website is the "money back guarantee" on a child.
"If health problems with the baby arise, or the Birth Mother
changes her mind and backs out of the adoption plan, <adoption
agency> guarantees that it will continue to work towards rematching
the Adoptive Parent with a replacement Birth Mother at no additional
cost. The Center will continue its marketing efforts on behalf of
the client until a child is ultimately placed into the client's
home. All clients who use <adoption agency>, and follow its
requirements, are ultimately matched with a Birth Mother and realize
their dreams of becoming parents."
"Our office and support network is available to you 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. Contact us in confidence ... assistance with
your adoption is just a phone call or email away."
- from adoption agency website
What about the promotion of single parenthood - the very reason a
mom may be led to believe she must give up her baby for adoption?
"Single parents approach adoption with the same commitment
and devotion as a married couple. There is no reason to discriminate
against a single person for adopting a child. A single parent can
provide a loving and nurturing home for a child. Adoptive single
parents use family and friends for extended support. They give their
child their full attention and all of their love."
- from adoption agency website
What about the adoption homestudy? Will it ensure the prospective
adopters are not drug addicts? Is it thorough enough to make moms
feel safe that their children are not going to be raised by just anybody?
"Once prospective adoptive parents apply to adopt a child
(whether they apply to an agency, an attorney or facilitator, or
directly to the court in an independent adoption), the laws of all
50 states and the District of Columbia require that the applicants
undergo a "home study." This process involves education
and preparation as well as the gathering of information about the
prospective parents. Ideally, the home study helps to build a partnership
between the adoption social worker and the applicants."
"Individuals who seek to adopt may face the entire process
with mounting anxiety that they will not be "approved."
Armed with accurate information, however, prospective parents can
face the home study experience with confidence and the excitement
that should accompany the prospect of welcoming a child into the
family."
- from adoption agency website
"There is no set format that adoption agencies use to conduct
home studies. They must follow the general regulations of their
State, but they have the freedom to develop their own application
packet, policies, and procedures within those regulations. Some
agencies will have prospective parents attend one or several group
orientation sessions or a series of training classes before they
complete an application. Others will have their social worker start
by meeting with family members individually and then ask that they
attend educational meetings later on. Usually agency staff members
are glad to answer any questions and to guide applicants through
the process."
"After all, the adoption worker wants you to accomplish your
goal of adopting."
- from adoption agency website
Interesting how adopting is considered a "goal" but we
all know that many of the people hoping to adopt think of everything
in terms of "goals". They have already met all their other
goals in life - wealth, success, and as many golf games as they can
possibly stand. Then they say "oops! I forgot to have a family!"
and they go looking for some naive or poor mother so they can take
her son or daughter to use "as if" this human being was
their own child.
Adoption Reform Ideas - To Protect Both Prospective Adopters and
Natural Family
1) Outlaw all solicitation for babies. (We don't solicit living
people for their kidneys and we shouldn't solicit living people
for their sons and daughters, either.)
2) Give families time after a child is born to discuss things.
(In S. Australia I think no relinquishment is valid prior to two
weeks following birth.) Give fathers time to establish paternity.
3) Provide mother, father and other family members information
regarding the risks of pshychological and other effects of separation/adoption.
4) Both mother and father (if one is recognized by the court)
must sign.
5) Have an unpressured revocation period with no prospective adopter
selected until AFTER the revocation period is over for both parents.
(In S. Australia I think this is 25 days.)
6) Do not change information on the birth certificate or seal
it. Every human being has a right to know who they really are.
(Pregnant and new Moms should already be covered by the state
for any absolutely necessary expenses, so there is no need for "down-payments"
on babies.)
This would protect prospective adopters and it would protect the
child's right to her natural family.
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