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American evangelicalism has established the US as one of the most powerful forces in international adoption. The more adoption becomes defined as an extension of conservative Christian engagement, the more children displaced by conflict become vulnerable to opportunism
The basis of the so called “American adoption movement” is the gross simplification of global poverty. With a million vulnerable children around the world—including those who live with one parent or extended family—living in poor conditions, there is an “orphan crisis”
This “orphan crisis” symptom of global child poverty can be “”fixed”” by just a fraction of those claiming to be Christians would simply step up & adopt these “””parentless””” and hungry children. Naturally, evangelicals began to introduce adoption within their religious message
Churches began to create adoption ministries, praising and supporting adoptive parents through scripture (James 1:27 “Visit orphans and widows in their distress”) and casting it as a pro-life alternative to abortion
Evangelical foster care providers, agencies, & funds—including the DeVos Foundation—give grants or interest-free loans to couples hoping to adopt (especially to pastors, whose potential adoptions are viewed as priority, since they set the example for an entire congregation)
Since 2007(?) the Christian Alliance for Orphans coalition has grown to encompass more than a hundred evangelical nonprofits and denominational groups united around promoting the global cause of the “orphan crisis” through “orphan care”
Bethany Christian Services, America’s largest adoption agency and direct financial ties to Betsey DeVos saw a 26% jump in the number of adoptions after the 2010 Haiti earthquake displaced thousands of children—reminder: this organization accused of taking 81 children(con’t)
forcibly separated from their parents/extended family at the US/Mexico border and placing them in denominational foster homes and mental health agencies throughout the United States.
Ethical adoption practices have been an issue in America long before this so called 21st century evangelical movement, but the fact remains that the issue is exacerbated by conservative Christian ethnicity.
Members of the Christian adoption community often speak of children in developing nations or conflict as an indistinguishable mass—any child of an impoverished parent is viewed to be equivalent to an “orphan” and is labeled as such
referring to adoption as a means of “redeeming orphans”—saving them just as Christians are redeemed through baptism, or baby Moses being pulled from the water—and their families become either forgotten footnotes of a “traumatic beginning” or ugly caricatures
domestic adoption often refers to a “single mother” that’s either a selfless martyr or hopeless & promiscuous & an addict. In the case of international adoption, however, family was more likely to be erased altogether, as agencies sometimes wrongly claim they are dead or dying
The framework for adoption developed over the last fifty years in America has been tailored to the interests of adoptive parents because it fits and perfectly preserves the nuclear family structure that is so crucial to maintain social conservative policy
Developmental issues distinct from that of providing a child with a “””structured environment””” are the main crisis at hand—although establishing sustainable social welfare will ultimately significantly lessen a child’s vulnerability
Internationally a combination of poverty, opportunism, & cultural misunderstanding of adoption—often defined as temporary guardianship not permanent relinquishment—lead to children repeatedly being offered, & in some cases taken, for adoption (by American Christian-based agencies
A promise of “A better life in a better place” is all it takes for an American denominational Social Movement to receive a “secular pat on the back” and Christian couples to have their home vetted for adoption
Can you imagine if the zealous energy within evangelical identity in US adoption was placed behind access to higher education?
