The Myth of Adoption

We’ve all heard anti-choice activists preach the idea of adoption as a more ethical alternative for abortion. I remember once upon a time, in more naïve days, saying myself that a hard life is better than no life at all. But when have orphanages ever been proven to be anything but detrimental to children?

The truth is that people who encourage a woman to put her unwanted child up for adoption either don’t understand the way orphanages and foster care work or, just as likely, believe that by convincing a woman to continue her pregnancy, she’ll grow attached and decide to keep her baby after all.

Because if anyone is actually endorsing going through pregnancy with the light at the end of the tunnel being throwing a child into an institution of rampant mistreatment and neglect, I’m not sure they should be treated as completely sane. Orphanages are often crowded so the workers aren’t able to give children the attention they need, and those are the better orphanages. These institutions have a history of being impersonal and cause children to struggle with creating and maintaining relationships.

But hey, maybe this child will be lucky enough to be put in a foster home! There are countless horror stories of couples taking in foster children to get money from the government, but then spend the money on drugs or other selfish purchases instead of the child. And if that money isn’t enough, they sometimes take in more foster children than they can care for.

Luckily, we’re moving past that, and these days most hosts in the foster system are in it because they actually want to help. That doesn’t seem to have made a significant difference in the mental and behavioral problems in children within the foster care system.

Orphanage or foster home, these kids are only being taken care of until they turn 18. Once they’re adults, they’re more or less thrown onto the streets with typically very little education.

I should mention that going through an adoption agency or picking out a person or couple who’s willing to adopt the baby is a completely different, and better, situation. However, often women don’t have access to that service or just don’t know it exists. I’m not saying adoption itself is detrimental, just the living arrangements of children waiting to be adopted.

Another adoption-related argument anti-choicers love to make is that abortion is a waste considering the number of single people and couples looking to adopt. But this also shows an ignorance to the realities of the adoption system. After all, it’s not exactly a secret that single women and same-sex couples struggle being approved to adopt. While I’m not saying adopting children should be easy, the current process is excessively time-consuming and stops many people who would make great parents from adopting. It shows a definite bias toward traditional heterosexual married couples.

I happen to believe quality of life is more important than quantity of life, which is why I believe that, especially considering these issues, abortion should be a realistic and respected option for women with unwanted pregnancies. Adoption has long been preached as the moral alternative to abortion, but I encourage you all to question what adoption really means and how moral it really is.

Stay rad, pals.

(properly citing sources is for academic college papers, not blog posts)

McLaughlin, Megan E. “Orphanages are not the solution.” 1995

Rodger, Susan, Cummings, Anne, and Leschied, Alan W. “Who is caring for our most vulnerable children?: The motivation to foster in child welfare.” 2006