|
May 14, 2005
Adoption Miracles, Adoption Magic
Adoption Miracles, Adoption Magic
"Was it luck? Maybe. Was it fate? Possibly. Was it a miracle?"
Whether you view adoption as "un petit miracle" or "a modern-day miracle" or "our little miracle sent straight from heaven" there is one thing you should know: Adoption is not magic. Adoption agencies and adoption lawyers are not wizards. It takes measures like federally-funded Infant Adoption Awareness Training, Choose Life License Plates, limiting a woman's "choices" to ONLY adoption or abortion - and more - to get those babies for adoption. "Adoption professionals" get those babies from real families, convert them to "orphans" (on paper) and then sell them (via payments disguised as "adoption services") to unrelated people. Before the bill is paid in full, the buyers magically become "real parents".
When people want babies badly enough, thinking of God's blessing to a baby's family as God's gift TO THEM seems perfectly reasonable. Social workers assure people: "God makes mistakes choosing parents" -- and social workers are happy to fix God's errors.
Wizard: Wise and friendly users of magic, applying their powers to help those who deserve it, and punish those who don't.
This is how adoption is viewed - helping those who "deserve" babies and punishing those who "don't". Punishing moms for having babies, punishing the "little bastards" for being born. "What!" you say - "We may punish the moms but we're not punishing the 'little bastards' - we love the 'little bastards." But if people love the "little bastards" so much then why do they take their families away from them? Aaaaahhhh ... the "little bastards" MUST have a family-ectomey prior to the "miracle" of adoption.
Adoption - isn't that where a child magically turns into the "descendant" of people who have purchased services designed to get them a baby?
"Was it luck? Maybe. Was it fate? Possibly. Was it a miracle?"
Posted at 09:01 pm by warriorwoman
Permalink
Open Adoption vs. Closed Adoption
Open Adoption vs. Closed Adoption (vs. keeping natural families intact)
Offering a vulnerable naive parent only two "options" - open adoption or closed adoption - may get more babies for adopters, but is it really right to limit parents' choices?
"I read part of your unplanned pregnancy website and I agree that open adoption is bad," a woman wrote to me from a Pro-Life organization.
I found her comment interesting. Yes open adoption can mean intense suffering and the way that "open adoption" is used to lure pregnant moms into surrendering their babies is horrendous. But, presumably the woman who wrote to me still intends to separate families and collect donations and payments for "adoption services" (profitting off babies). But she wants to do it in a way that the people who adopt won't have to know of the suffering of the moms (and sometimes dads, siblings and grandparents) they have used as baby-making machines. Perhaps she missed the part about the effects of adoption on mothers and the effects of adoption on babies in closed adoptions? Perhaps she missed this not-so-very-happy "adoption story" - just one of many closed adoption stories.
Surely there are adopters who were also naive - people hoping to find a baby to adopt, but not thinking about how babies have mothers, grandparents, siblings who will miss them. The baby brokers (adoption agencies, adoption lawyers, adoption "counselors") surely aren't going to mention the techniques they use to get babies. Instead they say the moms just aren't "ready to parent". "Ready to parent"? What is THAT phrase all about? The moms ARE their child's parent - and so are the dads.
What are the techniques used to get babies for adoption?
First, advertise the "adoption option" until people truly believe that unrelated caregivers are preferable to a child's own family.
Second, develop a lexicon to support this rediculous idea and call it "respectful adoption language". ("Respectful"? Their objective is to get babies, so of course they don't mention that the "adoption language" DISRESPECTS natural families.)
Third, Infant Adoption Awareness Training (IAATP) to get a pregnant mom surrounded by people who will "think adoption".
Fourth, Limit a woman's "choices" to adoption or abortion. Get churches involved in separating families and call this activity "pro-life". Get people chattering mindlessly about "human dignity" while they separate moms and babies and make grandmothers regret that they did not stop it in time.
Fifth, Choose Life License Plates - with proceeds going ONLY toward "adoption services" - services which are designed to get more babies for people to use "as if" they were born to them.
Sixth, Baby Safe Havens - again offering a scared mom no "option" other than baby abandonment .
Seventh, get moms to believe they have already "choosen adoption" and encourage them to select prospective adopters long before they have a chance to think, before they have any way of knowing what they are choosing. Ensure moms will feel beholden to the seemingly friendly prospective adopters and not want to disappoint them by keeping their own sons and daughters.
Eighth, ...
Obviously I could go on with this thought process for a long time...adding things like denying parents the information they would need to make an informed choice, denying fathers rights, denying a child's right to her own family. Spreading rumors and generating myths that young mothers and single mothers are bad mothers. Playing a game of "divide and conquer" pitting mothers and fathers against each other and grandparents against their pregnant daughter or son. "Which is better - open adoption or closed adoption?" is a question that deflects from the real questions: Considering the effects of adoption on natural families, why are parents' options being limited to only legalized baby abandonment? Offering a vulnerable naive parent only two options - open adoption or closed adoption - may get more babies for adopters, but separating families to get babies for adoption is a tragedy.
Posted at 12:37 pm by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 13, 2005
Pro-Life Views, Assisted Suicide and Adoption
Pro-Life Views - Comparing Assisted Suicide and Adoption
Pro-life proponents are generally opposed to assisted suicide. One argument made is that suicide assistance is usually requested by a patient out of desperation and is unlikely to be desired by a patient who receives adequate services, counseling and pain management. The pro-life view is that compassion for the dying demands that we provide services, rather than provide opportunities for ending life. Instead of assisted suicide, pro-lifers are in favor of providing humane services for all people - neither the morality of these people nor whether they have planned and are financially prepared for an expensive elongated illness is a consideration.
Many people, especially in a society like that of the United States where profit often trumps humanity, may come to the conclusion that those who cannot care for themselves should be neglected or made to feel like a tremendous burden so they will “choose” suicide. A person who "chooses" suicide may even be lured by the incentive that they can help others through planned organ donation. Others may have their paperwork forged or a signature obtained through misrepresentation and fraud to get them out of the way.
Like the elderly or the infirm, young people who are just starting out or people who have experienced a layoff or some other setback may also benefit from compassionate assistance at times. An unexpected pregnancy may be a source of distress for those who want their child but wonder how they will be able to care for her. As with assisted suicide, there is a tendency for people to want to provide a quick “solution”that ignores the humanity of the mother, family and child.
In promoting the “option” of legal abandonment, the euphemism “adoption” is used. A form of “assisted suicide” - the killing off of their motherhood or fatherhood through the removal of their child - is often held out to parents as the only help available. Parents may be further lured by the promise of making someone else’s life better by donating their offspring. Some parents may have the paperwork fraudulently handled to get them out of the way. Based on state laws, fathers frequently have their rights terminated for them before they even have a chance to establish paternity.
In reality, a mother is much more than someone who “just gives birth”. A father is more than a "conception object". A child is a part of his family the way a person’s arm or leg is a part of her body. Just like it would be unconscionable to remove a living person’s arm, leg or vital organ to provide it to someone else, it is wrong to remove a baby from her family for use by someone else. Whether the recipient treats the baby well is of no consequence.
End-of-life arguments made by Pro-Lifers should also apply to unplanned pregnancy. As with assisted suicide, the argument about the need for compassion should be used when an unexpected pregnancy occurs.
Adequate services, counseling and assistance are lacking. Males need to take responsibility for pregnancy prevention as well as for all of their children - even those born when they are not married to their child's mother.
Limiting a woman's options may get more babies for adoption, but it is not healthy for moms and babies to be separated at birth. (See effects of adoption and effects of open adoption.)
With proceeds from Choose Life Tags going ONLY for adoption "services", women have ONLY the "options" of abortion or adoption.
With Baby Safe Haven or Baby Moses Laws, a scared mom is given ONLY the "option" of baby abandonment.
With Infant Adoption Awareness Training (IAAT), a mother's support system is being removed so she will feel she has no real options but to surrender her precious baby.
A special "adoption language" is being promoted that will help to get more babies for the adoption market. Mothers and fathers have been demoted to "birthmom objects" and "birthfather objects", while unrelated people are called "parents" long before they have even found a vulnerable mother to use as the source of a baby.
Families are solicited for their healthy infant sons and daughters by means of "Dear Birthparent", "Dear Birthmom", "Dear Birthmother" letters, adoption business cards and by hiring "adoption professionals" to "counsel" moms in a way that will make it easier to get their babies. With the intense promotion of open adoption and it's associated lies, we now have a shameful Domestic Adoption Baby Boom.
Where pro-life views are concerned, respecting the dignity of life means respecting family relatedness. Families should not be torn apart to get babies for adoption.
Posted at 09:31 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 12, 2005
Doll Adoption - Exploitation of Women?
Many people say, "We have to adopt - what would happen to all those "unwanted babies" if we did not? The number of supposedly "unwanted babies" seems to fluctuate based on the market demand, and on the adoptive buyers preferences. In the 1960's, for example, Americans were told that millions of white babies were "unwanted" - yet black babies were almost always "wanted".
The truth is that an unplanned pregnancy does not mean an unwanted baby. By the time a baby is born, nearly every baby is wanted by her mother - if not by her father, siblings, grandparents and other family members. It may be true however, that certain families are unwanted by those who would maintain a patriarchal system - that is, families that are not of the "family-unit" type. Killing two birds with one stone, those in power seek to decimate unwanted family types and supply the customers of "adoption services" with babies. Babies are sold for adoption - just like adoption dolls.
Regarding doll adoption - and adoption in general - adoption must be a good thing or why would it be promoted so much? Perhaps it is simply because no one speaks out against it.
Posted at 10:35 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 11, 2005
Adoption "Ministry"?
One website has information about a series on "How to Start an Adoption and/or Infertility Ministry". What is an adoption "ministry"? The website mentions the importance of "careful listening". And then it instructs people on how to finance fertility treatments - including mentioning that desperate infertile people sometimes bankrupt themselves trying to make a baby.
"If you determine that you can afford $40,000 in your quest for a child, you might decide to budget $20,000 for one cycle of IVF (in vitro fertilization) and the remaining $20,000 for adoption. Or you may elect to try two or three IVF cycles. Whatever you decide, it’s imperative to be emotionally prepared to walk away from treatment when you’ve reached your financial limits."
I may be slow...but this seems like a lot of money and effort put into helping aging people either 1) become fertile or 2) fake their "fertility" by purchasing a baby (disguised as payments for "adoption services") or creating an unrelated baby from "donated" raw materials. I know lots of people who just have sex and voila! they have babies - most of these "real parents" are young and fertile - it's so much easier that way!
Contrast this infertility business (er, infertility "ministry") with all the information out there about "delaying pregnancy". "Delaying pregnancy" and "increased infertility"....Do you think there could be a connection? Perhaps less emphasis on "delaying pregnancy" would help prevent infertility.
Here's a paragraph that really caught my attention:
"A few months ago, I ran into a woman who had attended that workshop while she and her husband were in the adoption process. She asked me how our sons’ birth parents were doing, calling them each by name. My mouth dropped open."
Posted at 11:25 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 10, 2005
Honoring Natural Moms on Mother's Day.
Honoring Natural Moms on Mother's Day.
Mother’s Day is for honoring mothers - grandmothers, step-mothers, working mothers, stay-at-home mothers. I have heard in some churches women who have had abortions have been remembered as the mother of their unborn child on Mother’s Day. But there are some mothers who have been forgotten - these are the mothers who have been used like livestock and had their babies harvested from them to be used for adoption. In the 1950’s, 60’s and early 70’s millions of white single mothers were punished for having a baby. Many were denied any information about childbirth. When they went into labor they were left alone with no support and no pain relief. But the worst punishment was losing their child. Some were not even told whether they had a son or daughter.
The Mother-and-Child relationship is like no other. A baby bonds with her mother in the womb. A baby looks to her mother for security and no other caregiver - not even the baby’s father - can replace her. Many hospitals now recognize the importance of keeping newborns with their mothers, rather than separating them. Experts emphasize the benefits to a baby that come from nursing and her own mother’s milk, designed for her.
Yet with all that is known about the importance of a baby’s mother to her well-being, some vulnerable and naïve mothers are still being led to believe that their infant sons and daughters will be better off with someone else. Even a dog breeder knows better than to separate puppies from their mother before they are sufficiently mature.
This Mother’s Day, help and honor teenage moms and single moms who are taking responsibility for their children. Acknowledge natural mothers as mothers, not "birth objects" meant to be used as the source of a baby for adoption.
Posted at 10:07 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 8, 2005
Faux Finishes - Faux Families and Adoption
Faux Finishes - Faux Families and Adoption
(My humblest apologies to natural families with the surname of “faux”.)
Faux sis, faux bro. What are they? Faux finishes make concrete appear to be the most beautiful stone or make pine wood appear to be marble. Similarly, faux relatives may appear to be related family members but are not the real thing: they are Faux family. Speaking up about the subject of adoption is probably a Faux Pas - and so is the male adopter: Faux Pa. And of course there is Faux Ma.
What! I’ve deviated from “respectful” adoption language. I’ve been disrespectful of the “real” family. We have something called “freedom of speech” here in America, you know. The euphemisms and untruths of “adoption” and “positive adoption language” affects a persons freedom of thought like a sort of mental rape. If my grandmother died, I’ll say she DIED; If people are related only though payment for “adoption services” - services which are designed to get them a baby to adopt - I’ll say they’re NOT RELATED. And no piece of paper, no birth certificate (fraudulently amended for adoption), can change that fact.
Some adopted people have faux family - and they may joke about it but they still love their fauxs. But perhaps the saddest situation in adoption I’ve ever heard is this: an adopted person saying they feel like they have no real family. Their mother - pressured or forced by society to surrender her beloved newborn at birth - became so emotional about the reunion she won’t call any more. Their father is distant. The adopters are - well, they’re OK, but they just aren’t the right people, aren’t family. When they adopted, the male adopter sort of went along with the female adopter, saying something equivalent to: “Well, I guess it’s OK dear if you get a puppy - as long as I can go fishing or golfing with my buddies for a week every summer.” The sterile female adopter really wanted her own baby - and is still trying to have one at age 50.
An adoptee may think to herself: “It must be wonderful to know you belong, to really fit in.” Maybe nobody really fits in, she thinks to herself. Then one day she become pregnant. Suddenly the miracle of life means something. Did her mom really go through this - and STILL "give" her up? Did her mother pass on bad genes and will this new baby be defective? It’s scary. The adopted person may have fears that she will be a “bad parent” too and should get an abortion or give her baby away. That fear is irrational - it can’t be right. But what is right? It’s so confusing. What is a non-Faux relative? Will the adopted person get along with her baby or only be jealous, thinking how her daughter gets her real mom, not a substitute like she got? The adopted person got a faux family crest and history, faux genealogy, a faux family tree - and her daughter - or son - will inherit these “fauxs”.
Some days an adopted persons feeling are faux feelings, too - adoptees are “faux masters”. “We’re great on stage - adoptees can play any role” an adoptee friend tells me. I stare incredulously as the other adopted woman in the room nods enthusiastically.
Millions of adoptable babies were harvested from their white mothers in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. Adoption agencies and adoption attorneys still managed to get more babies after that - although not as many. And now, the United States government is funding programs designed to get more healthy babies harvested from naïve moms so they can create more faux families. “Built” families they are called. Families built on the suffering of other families who are forced, pressured or tricked into surrendering their babies for adoption.
Creating faux families is an opportunity to shift children from single parent homes and clans (which are derogatorily referred to as “unstable”) to unrelated sterile married people. Gays can adopt now, too - anyone “merits” the word “family”, assuming they can afford to pay for a child - euphamistically known as "adoption".
So to get more babies, we now have Infant Adoption Awareness Training and a domestic adoption baby boom. We have Open Adoption and it’s associated lies.
Exploitation of single mothers is fun - why shouldn’t everyone call single moms “unwed”, “birthmoms” and then take their babies for adoption? Some adoption agencies and baby buyers (adopters) actually refer to the sacrificial objects as “our birthmothers”, as if they own them.
Some moms call themselves “lifemothers”. Hmm. Well - it is true that these moms did get a “life sentence” without their child. But why not just use the honest respectful term “moms” or “mothers”? “Lifemother” is just another word for breeder - a woman who is meant to be used as the source of a baby for the fauxs (foes) of the natural family.
(Note: it is not just infant adoption that is a problem in United States. Adoption from foster care is also an issue. Are families which are less affluent being torn apart to get young "adoptable" kids for adults to use "as if" they were their own? Read how the Adoption and Safe Families Act and Adoption Bonuses Tear Families Apart.)
Posted at 08:21 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 6, 2005
"Birthmothers" and Ritual Sacrifice
Ritual Sacrifice of "Birthmothers" and Ritual Sacrifice of Virgins
In the historical fiction book "The Sacrifice" by Diane Matcheck, a 15-year-old Apsaalooka (Crow) Indian girl wanders into a "trap" set by another tribe. The story is set in the 18th century. According to the notes at the end of the book, "At the time of the story, the Skidi, or "Wolf" band of Pawnee had been performing the Morning Star sacrifice for so many years that no one knows when it began, and the details of why it was performed are no longer clear."
Her father's death has left her an orphan and the girl is an outcast among her people. She leaves her tribe and travels, overcoming many challenges and then wanders into the domain of the Wolf and lives among them. Although unaware of it, she is being "counseled" and groomed for the sacrifice. In a conversation with the boy who is her "counselor" the girl makes some interesting observations. The boy, Wolfstar, tells her "Our lives are not really our own." and also "We must follow the path given to us." He believes he must follow many dictates of his culture - that he cannot travel or marry outside his culture. He says, "...if I refuse to do what is asked of me, my people will perish." The girl is stunned by this.
When harvest-time comes, the people prepare for the sacrifice. The girl has learned the language quickly, which works in her favor. She overhears a conversation she is not supposed to hear. Wolfstar's father tells him "The girl must be at the ceremony tonight...The Morning Star must have the blood of that girl's heart, no matter what feelings you have for her." The boy she had trusted and thought of as her friend says "I have only done what you taught me: be kind to her, keep her happy and ignorant of her fate so that she may be led through the ceremony willingly when the time comes."
Later, during the ceremony the girl - still partly under the "spell" - submits to being "prepared" and to having her hands tied by the priest. She becomes panicky, as everyone begins to chant as part of the ritual. The suddenly it dawns on her that no one has touched her body directly. Guessing they must be forbidden to touch her, she decides to try it - she gets up and simply walks away. They cannot touch her. She has no horse, no weapon to help her survive. Her hands are still bound. But, she is alive and she manages to overcome the remaining obstacles.
This story of ritual sacrifice of a virgin closely matches a ritual sacrifice practiced in the United States and in some other countries - that is the ritual sacrifice of a family that is not of the "family-unit" type. In a patriarchal culture where people believes it is inevitable, a pregnant mother is lured into the trap. She is "counseled" and groomed for the sacrifice. She is called a "not-mother" or "birthmother" (sacrificial "offering" ) well in advance. The people she trusts believe they must go through with it or their "people", their culture, will perish. If they do not sacrifice this mother-and-child, there will be more instances of family that are not "family-units" - there may be grandparents helping to raise their grandchildren, there may be single fathers taking responsibility for their children. The mother who does not comprehend the real truth behind the biased "adoption language" - and who does not have the opportunity to overhear the true motives of the "adoption counselor" - may not extricate herself from the situation in time. The "birthmothers sacrifice" will please the gods and the people will profit from a great harvest - the harvest of a human baby for adoption.
But what about the sacrificial offering - the so-called "birthmother" (and adopted person)? The mental health impacts of adoption are serious. The psychological impacts of adoption are horrifying and also fascinating. "It" is still alive, although "it" may have become numb just to cope with the loss. Many such "sacrificial offerings" later describe themselves as "sleepwalking" for years, with no one even to talk to. Upon awakening to reality the mothers may go through a traumatized re-living of events and/or obsessive thinking about their child.
Some "birthmothers" ("sacrificial offerings") are so thoroughly traumatized by the shameful treatment they received, by the loss of their child and by the complete lack of recognition of that loss, that they are completely unable to face it or mention it to anyone.
But some moms do come "out of the closet" and eventually a few even regain a little sense of humor about their family dismemberment.
....Perhaps some day they'll put together a country or rock band called the Wrong Tummy Momsters with songs like "Bitter Momma", "Living in Hell", and "Don't Mess With My Baby". They'll start out concerts with jokes about adoption lawyers at the bottom of the ocean and social workers begging St. Peter to be let into heaven. The last song of the night will be a rousing rendition of "Don't ^%ck With Me, Infertile B*tch!" And perhaps they will publish a newsletter called the "Stolen Children, Angry Mammas News".
(Note: If you are experiencing an unexpected "Unplanned Pregnancy", check out the Mother's Song website for unplanned pregnancy help and ideas on how to keep your baby.)
Posted at 10:38 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
May 5, 2005
Stories of "Successful" Adoption?
Stories of "Successful" Adoption?
Occasionally there are people on the internet, looking for "birthmother stories" , "birthmom stories", "true birthmom stories", "successful birthmom stories" or even "successful adoption stories".
What does this word "successful" mean and what does "successful adoption" imply?
Domestic adoption is the business of finding healthy babies for people. An adoption is considered "successful" if the mother and father do not come to their senses in time to figure out how to keep their own son or daughter. An adoption is "successful" if the adopted person maintains allegiance to the adopters and does not seek out his mother.
An adoption is "successful" if the "birthmom birth object" can be brainwashed into naively repeating "it was my choice" despite the fact that she had no real information about her options, about the consequences of adoption or about the consequences of open adoption. When she had no information upon which to base an informed consent the adoption was not even legal. An adoption is considered successful when the mother says naively "adoption is better than abortion" never questioning why she has only these adoption vs. abortion "options".
An adoption is "successful" if the adopted person says the adopters are the only "family" he has ever known. Adoptees rarely comprehend that adoptive people purchase (or take advantage of) "services" designed to get healthy babies away from their mothers. "Divide and conquer" is one strategy adoption businesses use, pitting mothers against fathers and grandparents against parents. Moms and families considering adoption for their baby are led to believe that adoption will be "no different" from the standpoint of the child than if they raised their son or daughter themselves. It would be nice if that were true. Unfortunately an adopted person does feel "the difference" whether they are lied to or even if they are told the truth about having been adopted.
Sadly, few adoptees were true orphans that had no family desiring or fit to care for them. Instead, most adoptees were artificially orphaned by society, to punish moms for having babies and to get babies for adoption. Public policy on adoption has little regard for the effect on the person adopted as a baby.
The use of "positive adoption language" which is promoted by the adoption industry has made a realistic discussion of adoption almost impossible. But once people understand that rather than being individual "units", we as human beings are creatures whose identity and psychology are based in our true family, then a real discussion of the merits of adoption and alternative "permanency" solutions may take place.
Infertile adopters really want their "own" child. Language is a powerful tool, making people believe that one can make someone else's child "theirs" by obtaining a falsified birth certificate. Not only do agencies profit from this misperception, but most Americans seem to agree with adopters that after all they've paid for "adoption services" and all their donations to adoption agencies, they deserve a baby.
Adoption is considered "successful" when all of society can be made to believe that the adoptive buyers deserve the title "parent" if not "saint".
Posted at 01:34 pm by warriorwoman
Permalink
Adoption - Heroic "Choice"?
Adoption - Heroic "Choice"?
There are many websites and articles proclaiming that adoption is an heroic "choice".
It's an ironic use of language - "heroic 'choice' ". As one mom wrote to me, angry that I mentioned some of the negatives of adoption: "Do you think we would do this if we had a choice?"
Does a mother have a real "choice"?
A woman who is single and pregnant is subjected to sterotyping which is designed to get her healthy baby for adoption.
Adoption an heroic choice? "You know we can't keep our babies" is a shocking statement one might hear. It's horrendous to think of a parent feeling forced to surrender their own son or daughter for adoption. Single mothers are sometimes called "unwed", "unmarried" or "birthmoms" (aka "birth objects") in order to make them appear to be inferior as mothers. This stereotyping has nothing to do with competence or skill. Myths have been generated by those in power in our patriarchal system. Sweeping generalizations are made that make it appear as if a family is some sort of "failure" or even "unstable" if it is not of the "family-unit" type. "A child needs a father" is a statement often made. But in reality every child has a father. Even if he is not married to the child's mother a father can take responsibility and contribute to his child's upbringing. One must conclude that "a child needs a father" means only "a woman needs a male 'owner' if she wants to keep her child."
Women are designed to have children while they are young. And yet, women are being encouraged to wait to have children until they are at an age when they may not be able to. Many women who wait until their 30's find themselves unable to reproduce. This is a desirable situation for those who profit from adoption or reproductive technologies, but it is painful for the infertile woman who wants a baby, painful for the woman forced to give up her baby, painful for "orphans" created artificially for this market.
Is adoption an heroic choice? Women are made to feel they must take sole responsibility for pregnancy prevention and also for children born when they are single. Affected by rumors of inferiority and by outright prejudice against single mothers, some single women who would far prefer to keep their child feel forced into abortion or adoption. No doubt it is the goal of those in power in our patriarchal society to avoid male responsibility and keep women under control. There is a big difference between a choice whether to reproduce and being forced into options of only abortion or adoption for untimely pregnancy. Women who have babies are mothers. Lack of experience does not disqualify a person as a parent - every parent starts out inexperienced. Taking responsibility for your child and raising her is a contribution to society - compare it with those parents who abandon their child.
To say motherhood is undervalued in America is putting it mildly. When motherhood is de-valued, both women and children - the future of our society - are affected. The Mother-and-Child relationship is like no other. A baby bonds with her mother in the womb. A baby looks to her mother for security and no other caregiver - not even the baby’s father - can replace her. Many hospitals now recognize the importance of keeping newborns with their mothers, rather than separating them. Experts emphasize the benefits to a baby that come from nursing and her own mother’s milk, designed for her.
Yet with all that is known about the importance of a baby’s mother to her well-being, some vulnerable and naïve mothers are still being led to believe that their infant sons and daughters will be better off adopted by someone else. Even a dog breeder knows better than to separate puppies from their mother before they are sufficiently mature.
In the 1950’s, 60’s and early 70’s millions of white single mothers were punished for having babies and exploited as a source of babies for adoption. Interred in maternity homes, many were denied any information about childbirth. When they went into labor they were left alone with no support and no pain relief. But the worst punishment was losing their child. Some were not even told whether they had a son or daughter.
Some people in power would like to repeat this exploitation and make more babies available for adoption. Adoption is not an heroic 'choice' - the 'choice' is made by those in power. Maternity homes are being promoted by President Bush. In the news, adoption agencies and attorneys openly brag of how they use “open adoption” to manipulate mothers into surrendering their babies. People who adopt and adoption industry lobbyists clamor for benefits for adopters. Adopters get benefits from the government, the workplace and even get reduced airline tickets. Meanwhile mothers who could benefit from some temporary assistance are being made to feel unworthy. The only "benefit" that moms seem to get is a place to "safely" abandon their babies.
It cannot be assumed that just because a woman is married, that her husband will be there or do his part in supporting or raising children. It's ironic that many married women actually find themselves with the same workload that a single mother might have. Where marriage is concerned, some woman might be better off living in some other communal situation, with their clan or with other moms. "Two can live as cheap as one" does not apply just to a married situation. Of course, the clan arrangement or communal situation is cheaper and less goods might be consumed - perhaps an important reason why communal situations are rarely depicted in the media.
Even without clan or a communal situation, many single mothers - and single fathers - raise their children. A pregnant woman who has some self-esteem might seek these single parents out and learn some tips from them. A single mother is not a failure as a mother nor is she to be viewed as a "not-mother" or "birth object" destined to be exploited as the source of a baby for adoption. A single mother is her child's mother. Stereotypes threaten motherhood and lower the status of women in society. The status of women in a society may be partially determined by the number of women who have their babies adopted-out.
It would be nice if the so-called "adoption option" was a true choice.
Posted at 10:35 am by warriorwoman
Permalink
|
|