Baby Merchants

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/257390/the_case_against_adoption_research_pg2_pg2.html?cat=17

I have been pondering this last few day the matter of adoption, ever since I read the above site which makes a case against adoption. I cannot take a stand against any and all adoption, because I do not believe that abortions should be performed except if the life and health of the mother is at risk. Please note that I understand that situation as the equivalent of triage at an accident - it would be best if you could save both victims, but sometimes it is necessary to choose. The post, however, is more about adoptions than my position on abortion.

I do not deny that there is coercion and the occasional shady dealing (such as this baby merchant from Cop Rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_3AaY1BG8k

Adoption is a mechanism for placing children with a loving family, and it is certainly better than foster care or state care (I regret that we lost that foster kid from the Troop, even if his foster mother's taste in "candy" was deplorable). I have no doubt that my adopted cousin has fared better with my uncle and aunt than she would have with her birth mother. If there is a shortage a white babies to adopt, there is no shortage of babies overall. Perhaps the couples should consider interracial adoption, as my relatives did (long before Madonna), or maybe a slightly older child. After all, biologically produced children so far come with unexpected characteristics.

The biological mothers of the children have a variety of reasons for preferring adoption, ranging from the compassionate to the somewhat mercenary. On the other hand, the birth mother may genuinely believe that this is a way to give her child a better life. The best situation would be to have an extensive local network of family and friends who could help the mother raise the child, but the American lust for isolating individualism has destroyed that possibility for many citizens.