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In my last post I posed a question to all of you. I asked if you think transracial adoption is trendy, taboo or neither? And along with that question, I asked why does the media feel the need to paint the picture of transracial adoption to be either trendy or taboo?
Today I am going to write about the “trendy side” of transracial adoption (as portrayed by the media).
Many articles related to transracial adoption present transracial adoption as little more than “the cool thing to do”. They rarely go into any of the real aspects of the process, such as the homestudy, immigration, referral, the waiting, etc. These articles tend to ignore the process and make it all sound simple, as if all you need is some money and a whim, and you too can have your very own African or Asian baby.
The important and real issues surrounding transracial adoption, such as cultural and racial identity, are usually completely ignored in these “trendy” articles, and they very often feature the likes of celebrities such as Angelina or Madonna, and any other famous name they can drop that might be related to adoption.
Along with trivializing the process, these articles often also sensationalize the process as well. It is implied, suggested or out-right stated (often falsely) that rules were bent or broken by celebrities with enough money to get around them. Such accusations are not only damaging to that particular adoption, but they are also harmful to adoptions in general, because it sends out the message that ethics can be waved when enough money is thrown around. While that may (unfortunately) be true in some cases, there are many good, ethical agencies and programs, and accusations of unethical behavior without proof is slanderous.
If you remember, when Angelina Jolie adopted her son from Vietnam there were all sorts of accusations that she had skirted around the process and her adoption was done in record speed, however as this article (which was really well done) showed, she went through the process like other adoptive parents, the media just didn’t catch on until the end of the process.
The media has gotten so bad with it’s glamorizing and sensationalizing of adoption, that this spoof was featured on Comedy Central back in March. Some thought the skit was mocking celebrity adoptions. Some thought the skit was taking aim at the way that the media handles celebrity adoptions. Whether you find it funny or not, either way, it is exactly what I am talking about with the way media often portrays transracial adoption as trendy.
Celebrities are people like the rest of us. While their adoptions often end up getting a ton of publicity, I have to doubt that that is their motivation behind adopting. Just like I don’t believe there are many (any?) “regular” adoptive parents out there adopting just so they can be like their favorite celebrity, I have a hard time believing that all of these celebrities are adopting just to “be cool”.
Making adopting seem like nothing more than a cool trend is damaging. It is hurtful to the adoptive parents who are putting a ton of time, emotions and money into the process, and lots of thought and research into the issues involved. It is hurtful to the ethical adoption agencies that are dedicated to finding homes for orphan children. It is hurtful to the children who are alone and orphaned and have no one to speak up for them. And it is hurtful to the adult adoptees in our society, as who wants to feel like their life story is just the next passing trend?
In my next post I will tackle the “taboo” side of transracial adoption. Thanks for all of the comments so far. I plan to use some of them in my conclusion post on this topic.
So true. It makes it so hard to educate people about the realities of adoption, which is what I’m interested in.
It really drives me insane when they do this, make fun of adoption that way…
We’ve had the “trendy” comment as well. The person who said it likely feels uncomfortable with our decision, and must have thought taking a dig would help. Yeah, something like that!