Here is a series that has been running on public radio. It is called Finding Home-50 Years of International Adoption. It is fascinating and insightful.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/adoption/

Obviously, everyone’s story is their own, but this has been a wonderful piece to listen to. The stories of adoptive parents and adoptees has been handled with great respect. Much can be learned from the past in order to go forward and give our children the best lives possible with respect to them, their history, and their culture.

I too will be writing to CNN and the advertisers this weekend.

I felt so angry and actually cried when reading the transcript. As an adopted child I was constantly told the story of how I came to belong in my family and why… I imagine they are the same or similar words many of you use or will use with your own children, “we hoped for you, waited and waited for you, we loved you before we knew you, we were so exctied and happy when we knew you were to be ours, you coming into our lives was the very best thing that ever happened to us, we love you so very very much and always will, we are blessed and so very lucky that your birth mother made the decision to ensure you were able to grow up loved and cared for when she herself was unable to care for you.”

It so disrepectful and so very hurtful to adopted children and adults (and of course their parents and other family members) to hear a major international media company sending out a message contradicting all that adopted parents are telling their children. How dare they suggest adopted children have been simply wanted based on their looks, future academic potential, skin colour, etc. The adoption of a child by its parents and the “adoption” of those parents into the heart of that child is quite simply an act of love.

Adopted children already have to deal with difficult issues at different times of their lives which can be compounded due to the ignorance of certain people and their prejudices. Airing inaccurate and racist remarks on a major news network only increases the possibility of adopted children and their parents encountering more such difficult moments. Misinformation filters down from adults to children and the thought that any adopted child should suffer unnecessarily due to comments made to them by people due to the ignorance of CNN makes me angry and sad.

I will be writing my non-emotional factual letters tonight, and will do so on behalf of and in honour of all children affected by adoption and who are too young to have a voice yet.

Sophie

First, don’t you think the Asian Americans in this country are gong to be astounded to discover that they face no discrimination here? I mean, if white families are picking Chinese children to adopt because we prefer that race, then Asians must be treated in a highly desirable fashion, right?

Second, if we are such racists, why are we not all adopting from Russia? We can get a white, undistiguishable from my family, baby there.

Twits. Sent out my letters. My husband is working on his.

But equally upsetting is the the comments you can read on the RQ Site*, about couples considering refusing to accept referrals of boys.

When a report like this is broadcasted maybe one should think about the comments posted on this site.
Personally we think those kinds of comments hurt more since they are written by people waiting to adopt.

Thank you RQ for a fantastic site.

*See the comments under “Notes from the days comments”
from January 4th, 2007

Jeffrey A. Rein
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