The Vent

There is this article that has been bugging me since I read it seven months ago. The Spectrum has a section called "the Vent". It was the weekend before Thanksgiving and I was with Karson and Jordan getting the oil changed in the car, while reading the newspaper, I came across this section of the newspaper. There was an individual who was venting about adoption. He stated that he was tired of always seeing all of these couples adopting from countries, like Haiti (he was specific about Haiti), he stated something to the effect of he is tired of seeing a Haitian child in the shopping cart every time he turned around. He also said something about one in seven children in Utah are starving and that couples need to adopt locally first. He went on and on for about three or four paragraphs giving his point of view. After reading the article a few times to myself, I then read the article to Karson.

We were very angered by the gentleman's "vent". We just happen to have friends that are adopting a handsome little boy from Haiti. I couldn't believe someone would feel that way. So, I had to do a little research. I found out, that the gentleman's ideology is a little misconstrued. First, the one in seven children that are starving, are starving that is a fact, but the children are with their biological family, and have parent(s) that are unemployed, homeless...etc, and the children that are starving are NOT adoptable. The parent(s) have full custody of them. So that statistic has absolutely nothing to do with adoption, just the fact that Utah has hungry children due to OTHER circumstances, not adoption. However, the children who can be adopted are well fed and taken care of by foster families.

I have been blessed with infertility. If it wasn't for infertility, we would not have Jordan. We have a beautiful birth mother, who sacrificed so much, and unselfishly gave us a gift. She did not give him up, she chose Karson and I to raise Jordan, because she could not. I also believe that adoption is not just some random coincidence, it is planned, and Jordan was brought to us, just as Jared was brought to our friends, his parents. It is tough being judged all the time by people. We have several friends with interracial families, because of adoption, and a few of them have been point blank ridiculed by people they do not even know. My friend, Kim, had a lady in a store just walk up to her and blatantly say "How could you?", and then walked away disgusted and the cute family. For people who are like that, I have come up with a theory. I think they may be judgemental because they simply don't understand. They were blessed with being able to have biological children. They didn't spend thousands of dollars on procedures and medication, like some of us,trying and have biological children. They just don't know what it is like because they haven't experienced it.

I would just like to say that the gentleman who wrote about his anger about a Haitian child in the shopping cart every time he turned around, has made me stronger.