Monday, November 15, 2010

10 Common Misconceptions about Adoption

This is a really good article written on 10 common misconceptions about adoption.

I wasn't sure if I could post the entire article or not so I just copied the link. I like the whole article except the last part rubbed me wrong. Here are the misconceptions, you can read what she wrote if you go to the article. My comments are in parenthesis below.


1. Birth mothers are all teenagers. (We were surprised to learn that the average age of birth mothers who place through LDS Family Services is 25 years old.)

2. Open adoption is confusing to kids. (I have done a lot of reading on this and I wholeheartedly agree that open adoption is best for everyone involved. I am really sad that our baby from China will not have ANY info on her birth family.)

3. They hate girls in China. (The issue of abandonment of babies in China is a very complex one, I will post more on this later.)

4. Black babies are the latest trend among celebrities.

5. Adoptive parents are saintly for adopting.

6. Adopted kids are lucky. (I have heard people say that adopted kids should be more grateful to their parents, etc. It makes me so mad! Have you ever met a kid who is grateful for their parents? At least not until they have kids of their own!)

7. Adoption costs a lot of money and only rich people can afford it.

8. There is a high level of risk that once adopted, a child will be given back to/taken back by biological family members.

9. Birth mothers are saintly for placing their children in adoption. OR Birth mothers are demons for getting pregnant unintentionally/being “unfit”/not loving their children enough to raise them.

10. Adoption is the opposite of abortion. As long as we have one, we don’t need the other. (Well, I'll just say that I don't agree with abortion except in extreme circumstances and then it is a very personal decision that I would not judge.)

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