Celebrity Adoption...

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rosie O'Donnell, Meg Ryan, Sharon Stone, Diane Keaton, Calista Flockhart... all have adopted children. And as Madonna joins this list of celebrities, it is interesting to see the reactions of the media and other groups to the news. Matt Lauer on the Today show called international adoption "the latest celebrity accessory" and he is not the only one to make that statement...if you google that statement with the words "international adoption", you get a long list of articles using the phrase.

All of this has caused quite an upsurge in activity on the adoption list serve that we have joined. Many adoptive parents and will-be parents seem to feel that this is the media callously passing judgment on the acts of celebrities (which may be getting special treatment and exceptions to adoption laws) without much consideration for the effect that their comments have on other (non-celebrity) adoptive parents and, more importantly, their children that are old enough to watch and hear these debates on the daytime television.

Madonna's adoption seems to also be stirring a huge debate about whether international adoption, which the media is portraying as an option open to only wealthy people, is really what people ought to choose or whether they are choosing this option at the expense of the many children in the United States public welfare system.

So, I have given these issues quite a bit of thought lately. I am going to lay out my thoughts, and I welcome any debate. I do not mean this to read like a rant, I really have tried to consider the other sides of the argument. However, if you feel I have ignored some key factor, please chime in...

My (Martine's...although I think Nate agrees) thoughts are:

(1) This seems to me like a very personal issue for the media to be opining on, but if they are to opine on it, I would ask whether they ever question whether an American that gives birth to a child is doing so at the expense of the children in the public welfare system that they could have adopted instead. While I do feel that it is wonderful that people are adopting children that would otherwise be in the United State public welfare system, it seems odd that we would not judge all people that do not do so rather than just those that have chosen to adopt from another country. I think that if they did, they might see that there is some absurdity in the analysis.

(2) Additionally, it also seems silly to me that the media is really going to imply that a child in the U.S. public welfare system is somehow is more deserving of Madonna's love (and money) than a child that it is an African public welfare system.

(3) I do think that the media's concern about puling the African child from his culture is valid, but I also think that many adoptive parents try very hard to incorporate an appreciation for the child's birth culture into their home. While this is clearly no substitute for living in a culture, I am not sure that loss of culture is really a strong enough argument to leave a child in an orphanage (especially in the case of a celebrity that can likely afford to allow the child to visit their birth country and still maintain a connection and appreciation for that birth culture). Also, if we really want t discuss pulling someone out of a birth culture, I think that it is important to acknowledge that the United States consists of many cultures, and domestic adoption does not ensure that a child will grow up in the same "culture" that they would have known if they had stayed with their birth parents.

(4) International adoption is expensive, and for that reason it is probably more likely an option for the upper middle class than those who make less money. We do not enter the international adoption process without some respect for the fact that we are privileged to do so. That being said, international adoption is open to a broader range of families than many of the media articles that I have read have implied. There are many adoption financing options out there. Additionally, the U.S. government itself does not distinguish between international and domestic adoption in allowing a family a large tax benefit ($10K) for adoption (if the family has an annual income under a certain dollar amount...I think $150K, but don't quote me on the exact amount).

While I think that all of these concerns warrant debate, I think that I have to agree with many of the emails from concerned parents that have written on the list serve, the media is not always approaching this issue rationally.

To conclude, there are certain things that are frustrating about celebrity adoptions, like the special treatment celebrities are able to obtain. Madonna is getting special treatment. However, I think we should also focus on the good that has come of this. From what I have read, she has also donated approximately $3 million to Malawian charities. To me, the good that comes out of her interactions outweighs any concerns that I have about the special treatment she has received. I think that in general, her actions are positive.