Interesting argument against GLBT adoption

[Fiona]

I realise you don't find it interesting but I really want to know if adoption from abroad is a good idea. Anybody?

 

[Gazpacho]

nm, this thread isn't for discussing the argument

 

[BPSCG]

I realise you don't find it interesting but I really want to know if adoption from abroad is a good idea. Anybody?

I used to have two good friends (he told me to drop dead because I favored the Iraq war) who adopted a delightful Korean girl. Mrs. BPSCG and I have two neighbors who adopted a baby girl from Colombia four years ago when they were 50 years old... a lot braver than I am.

Those two girls hit the jackpot. Grow up as the illegitimate child of a semi- literate Colombian teenager? Or as the daughter of two loving parents in a middle-class neighborhood in America? Marie is obviously adopted; her parents are both pasty-complexioned Nordics. So what? They love her and she loves them. Why would anyone think adopting her wasn't a good idea?

 

[Fiona]

Well I wonder because there are a lot of kids at home who need to be adopted and they don't find parents

 

[BPSCG]

Well I wonder because there are a lot of kids at home who need to be adopted and they don't find parents

Could it be that there are fewer obstacles to adopting a foreign child? Asking, not saying.

 

[geni]

There are a whole bunch of potential issues with marrages not being recognised abroad and the like. I understand that this is why we employ diplomats and foreign secreteries.

 

[EGarrett]

This, like the Ontological Proof of God, makes me scratch my head. Not so much because I don't understand how the logic is wrong, but because I don't understand how they think it's right. I don't understand how they imagine this is a good argument in the first place.

It seems like some sort of Appeal to Consequences. "If we do this, prejudiced people will attack." In fact, that is the argument, no need to make it specifically about gay adoption. It's a generic catch-all claim to justify doing prejudiced things.

"There are foolish people, therefore we must also be foolish." I'm not sure how that works in the first place. You're arguing against the foolishness, saying that you shouldn't hold that point of view, you're not arguing that there aren't people who will do stupid things if you stop holding it. You argue with them also.

Picking up the brain droppings of the ignorant is so frustrating. They're like children who love to roll around in the mud then hand their ragged clothes to you to clean up.

 

[EGarrett]

BTW, do you mean "boycott the United States" in the original post instead of boycotting Norway?

 

[Fiona]

Could it be that there are fewer obstacles to adopting a foreign child? Asking, not saying.

Well not in this country, no. The process of approval as adoptive parents is the same here, because you have to be approved no matter where the child comes from: and then there are additional obstacles which are mainly practical and which relate to finding a child to adopt.

The real reason is because most of the children who desperately need parents here are not babies.

 

[EGarrett]

I've got it, you reply to pointing out that prejudiced people will attack by pointing out that the long term dangers of irrational and bigoted actions are far worse than the temporary anger of a few ignorant people.

Good. One more silly argument that I can bat down when necessary.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

I realise you don't find it interesting but I really want to know if adoption from abroad is a good idea. Anybody?

Please do start a thread on this and direct me to it. It's a very interesting topic to me as I am the cousin of a girl adopted from the PRC.

BTW, do you mean "boycott the United States" in the original post instead of boycotting Norway?

Nope. The OP referred to Norway from the beginning.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Well I wonder because there are a lot of kids at home who need to be adopted and they don't find parents

Well for one people want babies. Is there a problem finding people to adopt babies in this country?

 

[KingMerv00]

There are countries in the world that aren't as advanced as we are when it comes to gay rights.

1. We adopt children from those countries.
2. If we allow gay marriage and adoption, some of the kids we adopt from these countries will go to same-sex couples.
3. The countries we adopt from will strongly dislike this, and as such "boycott" Norway, no longer letting us adopt their orphans.
4. Ergo, gay adoption will lead to significant numbers of kids not getting homes.

I once had a woman tell me that Hillary Clinton should not be president because the leaders of some countries don't respect women.

Well I wonder because there are a lot of kids at home who need to be adopted and they don't find parents

And there are lots of kids in other countries that need to be adopted and don't find parents.

Are local children more deserving of attention for some reason?

 

[Dragoonster]

Nope. The OP referred to Norway from the beginning.

I can't fathom a boycott over GLBT adoption. Is this a serious likelihood, is there other precedent in the EU for such a thing, or do you think it's merely a conservative scare tactic?

Just assuming it is real and would actually happen, I don't mean to give offense, but Norway isn't a huge country population-wise. As in, others could take up the slack. From vaguely paying attention to adoption in the US, it seems like families are kept on very long waiting list, as the demand for babies is far more than the supply.

Assuming that isn't true for Norway or the local "baby market", is this even a compelling reason to be against it? The boycott wouldn't likely last even a generation, if the social progress continues; versus thousands of past generations of babies needing adoption and various religious/social/ethical reasons that may have led to them not being adopted. I wouldn't think the "GLBT boycott" reason against adoption in the very short-term should outweigh the long-term benefit of allowing more couples to adopt, or even if they don't, the general social integration of gay couples.

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

Well not in this country, no. The process of approval as adoptive parents is the same here, because you have to be approved no matter where the child comes from: and then there are additional obstacles which are mainly practical and which relate to finding a child to adopt.

The real reason is because most of the children who desperately need parents here are not babies.

I suppose the alternatives are:

1. Prohibit people from adopting babies from overseas, in the hope that they will settle for a less-wanted, older child that is local.

2. Allow people to adopt babies from overseas if that is what makes them happy.

I can see defensible arguments for both sides. On one hand a couple that wants to adopt is not a public utility so it seems questionable to force children on them that they do not want, adoption certainly benefits the foreign baby, and it seems to me that a foreign baby is just as entitled to a good life as an older, local child. On the other hand perhaps babies will always find homes that are minimally decent and better overall outcome is reached by settling all children locally rather than by having foreign babies in families and local orphans in orphanages.