I have a new op-ed up at Huffington Post Religion:
Several weeks ago, in honor of “Birthmothers’ Day,” the pre-Mother’s Day celebration of women who relinquish children for adoption, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Fox News analyst Nina Easton. In it, Easton, an adoptive mother, called for a shift in language that would recast adoption not as abandonment, but as a heroic gift of life that a biological mother can make not only to her child, but also to would-be adoptive parents. In her opening paragraph, Easton lamented that adoption “carries such a social stigma that domestic placement of infants has plummeted — even as the number of parents desperate for a baby grows.” Changing the language around adoption, she suggested, to call “birthmothers” selfless and loving, could help encourage more women to relinquish.
A week later, on May 17, families in the adoption community convened in Washington, D.C., for a march, “Step Forward for Orphans,” advancing a different, but related message. These marchers, organized by a group called Both Ends Burning, were protesting what they see as unjust regulations and delays in the international adoption process that keep many potential adoptive parents waiting for years before they can adopt. Both Ends Burning, which had originally named the protest the “Empty Strollers March” — a title centered more on the frustration of prospective adoptive parents — advocates for the unlikely goal of increasing the number of children entering the U.S. for adoption fivefold, something that would be a dramatic turnaround from inter-country adoption rates that have steadilydeclined by around 60 percent in recent years.
On their face, neither of these events seem to involve religion. But scratch the surface of either and you’ll find the influence of one of the most significant developments in the modern evangelical community: the Christian adoption movement.
