CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN MIDDLE OF ADOPTION FIGHTS
Laura Bauer; The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/
[Quoting from article] "It is a fundamental violation of the human rights of these people...It's almost legalizing the kidnapping of children." [Article continues....]
Almost? How about it is exactly the legalizing of kidnapping of children? —Daniel Ibn Zayd of Mediarama Reviews
This bothers me on so many levels, but I find myself especially taking issue with the adoptive family's assertion that if the boy is returned to his family, he'll be among strangers and not know the language. As an adoptive mother to a three-year-old from Ethiopia, I am mindful that we came to her as strangers, that she did not know our language. So why is it okay for American families to adopt and do the exact same thing to a child and not okay for a child to endure the same circumstances be returned to his rightful family? It's a double standard that caters to the more affluent and powerful. (And to clarify, when I say "exact same thing" and "the same circumstances" I am speaking ONLY of going to a family he won't at first recognize and a language he currently does not know. I am not saying that it is the same to be reunited to one's family and to be adopted. Quite the opposite situation there, really.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I just found your blog through another that I read and want to also say that I very much appreciate and value your perspective, and I hope that by learning from you and other adoptees that I can better respect and care for my daughter as she navigates life as an adoptee. I know that the situation is far from perfect, and I honestly wish that it hadn't been necessary at all for us to be her parents. I hope that whatever she would like to do as she grows and becomes aware of her own preferences, we will be able to facilitate that, whether it be a return to her home country or anything else. Maybe the language issue topic is an especially sensitive one for me because that's something we haven't been able to figure out how to preserve for our daughter since English is her third language, and we have as of yet been unable to locate someone in our area who speaks her first language.