Choices: Adoption
The National Institute for Reproductive Health advocates for women to have access to all reproductive health choices when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. While access to abortion is often the spotlighted issue concerning reproductive justice, there is a whole spectrum of choices to which women must have access. Adoption is one of those choices.
Each year in the
For these children, birthmothers, and adoptive parents, the issues surrounding adoption are vast. From inequities regarding race and ethnicity, to class and sexual orientation, there is much work to be done to ensure that the system is just and respects the dignity of all parties involved.
Gay and lesbian couples who want to adopt, for example, have been singled out in several states in recent years. Reported The New York Times in July, “Last year,
Race is another complicated factor with regard to adoption. Black and white families looking to adopt often face discrimination, the latter in their desire for transracial abortion and the former in screening processes. The New York Times reports that in 2004 “more than 45,000 black children were waiting to be adopted from foster care.” Historically, there has been resistance to transracial adoptions, but with the passage of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994—which prohibits discrimination in making placements of children to parents based on race, color or national origin of either party for federally financed agencies—more and more transracial adoptions are occurring domestically and abroad.
Cost of adoption is another hurdle that excludes certain people from the adoption process; there still isn’t justice when only middle- and upper-class families can afford to adopt. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute reports that domestic adoptions from private agencies can cost as much as $30,000. While foster care adoptions are more affordable, efforts must be made to ensure that all potential adoptive parents have equal opportunity and access to the system as a whole.
Some questions we might ask as we look at adoption as a reproductive justice issue include the following: What populations are placing their children and who is adopting? How can we make sure that all women who want to choose adoption have support through this process and aren’t facing coercion or pressure? What steps can be taken to ensure that people from all races and ethnicities are being recruited as adoptive parents, especially given that children placed for adoption are disproportionately children of color?
For the past several months, the National Institute for Reproductive Health and NARAL Pro-Choice New York have hosted the ongoing speaker series “Choices,” which closely examines the full spectrum of reproductive health choices. Emergency contraception, parenting, abortion, and LGBTQ reproductive rights have all been topics of discussion. In tonight’s installment, “Choices: Adoption,” advocates from pro-choice adoption agency Spence-Chapin will be speaking, along with a birthmother and an expert on transracial adoption. Tonight’s event will address the complex issues surrounding adoption in an attempt to arrive at an understanding of what would constitute justice, equality, and true choice in the adoption process.
Stay tuned for video and a summary of the event in the coming days!
By Anna Bean