14 March 2006
Black and white is for cookies
Or police cars.
Adoption--whether it's international, domestic, or familial--involves all parties in a complex and extremely emotional maze of decisions and relationships. Ethical questions are front and center.
Am I doing this child a disservice, taking him away from his country, language, race/ethnic community?
Might something better be in store for her if I stay out of it?
Shouldn't I just donate some money to somebody instead?
How will the child feel when s/he's old enough to understand what I did to/for him or her?
The ignorance and knee-jerk animosity we encounter in random strangers and the media is often hard to bear (yes, you can say as many times as you want to that it shouldn't "matter," but when's the last time you didn't care what people were saying about your life choices?).
It's never black and white. Journalists, of all people, should know this and practice their profession with that always in mind.
Go here and read about the latest faux-scandal (our "civilized" version of the "foreigners adopt kids to harvest their organs" stories so rife in other countries):
http://www.research-china.blogspot.com/
Adoption--whether it's international, domestic, or familial--involves all parties in a complex and extremely emotional maze of decisions and relationships. Ethical questions are front and center.
Am I doing this child a disservice, taking him away from his country, language, race/ethnic community?
Might something better be in store for her if I stay out of it?
Shouldn't I just donate some money to somebody instead?
How will the child feel when s/he's old enough to understand what I did to/for him or her?
The ignorance and knee-jerk animosity we encounter in random strangers and the media is often hard to bear (yes, you can say as many times as you want to that it shouldn't "matter," but when's the last time you didn't care what people were saying about your life choices?).
It's never black and white. Journalists, of all people, should know this and practice their profession with that always in mind.
Go here and read about the latest faux-scandal (our "civilized" version of the "foreigners adopt kids to harvest their organs" stories so rife in other countries):
http://www.research-china.blogspot.com/
