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I can understand that sentiment THL, but I wouldn’t even allow an exception for that. I’m a straight up nationalist (is that the right word in this instance?) and fully believe that we should not even consider the ills of other countries until we clean out our own closet. I admit my view is extremist, as I don’t even agree with feeding poorer countries for the simple fact that I literally trip over homeless and hungry people here.
700?
Maybe the biggest sin is that we can’t seem to accept that those of us who think or believe differently are not entitled to do so. I have no problem with anti-abortionists, so long as they stay out of my life and stop telling me what to do.
I do think, snappy, that many of the foreign adoptions really come out of the difficulties of adopting in this one. And I think the really heartbreaking conditions people see in other countries. Being an orphan in a third world country is far different than being one here. Much worse. Much deadlier.
Not always, Snaps. A woman on my block adopted an Ethiopian orphan this past summer. She’s got 2 teenaged kids. This little boy is amazing – he was skinny & scared & couldn’t speak – he’s about 3. Now he’s happy as a lark, talks a blue streak, rides a scooter like mad & will go to Berkeley/Carroll. Don’t know what ethnicity she is – could be Hispanic or Med. She did it because she was asked to by a charity she’d donated to. She talked it over w/ her older kids & they’ve bonded beautifully.
Denton, true, we don’t have orphanages full of kids, but there are tons of kids in foster care/temp homes that need to be adopted. They could languish in foster care for years until they age out of the system, never knowing when they will be moved. All those kids need a permanent home with someone to call mom and dad for the long term.
Snappy, agree but with the caveat of those who adopt children with medical needs that either can’t or aren’t being addressed in their own countries. I’ve seen a lot of stories about people who have adopted essentially throw away children who are being tied to prison like cribs because of physical deformities. Heartbreaking.
I think so too, THL.
Actually etson, the issue, even for religious people is when life begins. For Jews its not so cut and dry as the second the sperm hits the egg. then there is the whole how do we define life, and how far do we take it. Such as those religious fundamentalists who claim that birth control is a form of abortion.
“Would you care what race your parents were or if they were both men or women or god forbid a single parent so long as they loved you to pieces?”
I absolutely agree, but there’s a bunch of people out there (not the adoptees or adopters) who think its a bad idea.
The whole thing of exoticizing (is that a word?) the adoption of foreign babies makes me ill. They are essentially buying children to pull them out of “the third world” to make themselves feel better and look good among their friends. Sickening.