PRO-LIFE MEANS PRO-SOCIAL JUSTICE by Fr. James Martin, SJ

[LexDivina]

When we suggested adoption to another woman, the grandmother of the child, you know what she said? “No one wants a black baby.” Oh, the irony. I would have adopted the baby on the spot.

There are such things as lame excuses and free-will.

While I agree with most of your post, this part I dont, and here’s why:

Simply saying you would (theoretically) adopt someone from a different race is different than actually going through with the adoption.

Adoption is a highly personal thing and its not easy. It’s extraordinarily expensive and fraught with emotional risk and hardship. The people I know who have done it chose to adopt because they could not have children of their own; either because of biology or because they were a same sex couple.

When you’re in this process, you’re given choices about age, gender, race, etc. It’s like shopping. It stands to reason that if you’re looking to adopt instead of having your own child, you’d want the experience to be as close as possible to what it would have been like to bear children. All the people I know asked for babies, and they asked for kids that looked like they could “pass” for coming from the parents. For the people I know, this means white, Asian or hispanic. Also there is no such thing as “adopting on the spot”. Its an extremely difficult vetting process, and people who adopt newborns are usually on a waiting list and have been for years.

Yes there are people who adopt black babies, in fact I know a white lesbian couple who did. Its rare though, very rare. It shouldn’t be, but it is and the ladies grandmother was not ignorant to these facts. Also if you are thrilled that adoption is an option for women then you are pro-choice. Pro-choice does not mean " pro-abortion" it means you are for giving the woman a choice and a voice.

tinyurl.com/zvkdrhp

 

[TCEL]

While I agree with most of your post, this part I dont, and here’s why:

Simply saying you would (theoretically) adopt someone from a different race is different than actually going through with the adoption.

Adoption is a highly personal thing and its not easy. It’s extraordinarily expensive and fraught with emotional risk and hardship. The people I know who have done it chose to adopt because they could not have children of their own; either because of biology or because they were a same sex couple.

When you’re in this process, you’re given choices about age, gender, race, etc. It’s like shopping. It stands to reason that if you’re looking to adopt instead of having your own child, you’d want the experience to be as close as possible to what it would have been like to bear children. All the people I know asked for babies, and they asked for kids that looked like they could “pass” for coming from the parents. For the people I know, this means white, Asian or hispanic. Also there is no such thing as “adopting on the spot”. Its an extremely difficult vetting process, and people who adopt newborns are usually on a waiting list and have been for years.

Yes there are people who adopt black babies, in fact I know a white lesbian couple who did. Its rare though, very rare. It shouldn’t be, but it is and the ladies grandmother was not ignorant to these facts. Also if you are thrilled that adoption is an option for women then you are pro-choice. Pro-choice does not mean " pro-abortion" it means you are for giving the woman a choice and a voice.

tinyurl.com/zvkdrhp

I’ve seen people at Church with black babies who clearly weren’t biological. Would that have changed the woman’s mind? Probably not.

I’ve considered adoption, and I understand one can’t adopt on the spot. No, the irony in her statement is that she was saying she didn’t want this black baby. There are other contextual components to the story, but that’s getting too detailed.