Missionaries of the Sacred

Adoption of Children

Part of fostering a culture of life is the promotion of adoption as an option. I recently had the opportunity to talk about adoption with a friend who has three adopted children from Central America. She stated that an advantage of adoption is helping to provide unwanted children with a better future. For my friend, adoption is a “winwin” situation. It is a rewarding experience for the children as well as for the parents.

My friend added that her brothers and sister treat her children equally as their nieces and nephews, and their children see them as equal cousins.  Likewise, her parents from the outset accepted them as true granddaughters and grandson, no different from their blood  related grandchildren.

There are different opinions concerning interracial and intercultural adoptions. My friend is not opposed to these because for her,  interracial adoptions show how families can live together regardless of color. Additionally, she has no problems if her children wish to contact their biological parents. Neither does she have problems with her children exploring their Central American heritage.

My friend emphasized, however, that adoption is not for everyone, especially for those who cannot fully accept children as equal to  blood relatives. I recall when discussing adoption in the classroom, one of my students mentioned that her aunt did family genealogy and would not include her because she is not blood related. Thanks be to God her adopted parents affirmed her as a true  daughter and equal to everyone. The student was at peace with this because she experiences love and acceptance from her adopted parents.

The scriptures remind us that God in “love destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ in accord with the favor of His will… [From God we] receive a spirit of adoption through which we cry ‘Abba Father.’ [Indeed] as proof that [we] are chil-dren, God sent His  Son into our hearts crying out ‘Abba Father.”¹

This sums up our fundamental relationship with God. In Christ, we become God’s sons and daughters. We can call God our Father and,  “To name God as Father thus becomes a summons to us to live as a ‘child,’ as a son or daughter.”² As adopted sons and daughters, we also receive love, comfort and compassion within the motherhood of God:³ “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you…Can a  mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”⁴

The human experience of adoption can in some ways be seen as a parallel to the above reality. In this sense, the adoption of children reflects the likeness of God’s love and respect for the dignity of all children. It is a visible expression of adoption, participating in the motherhood and fatherhood of God.

God calls us to choose life.⁵ Adoption is a choice to choose life. If we as a culture succeed in making adoption a more visible option, and if we can place ourselves in solidarity with families who are willing to adopt children who are abandoned by their parents for various  reasons, we are more likely to create an alternative to abortion. Indeed, “true parental love is ready to go beyond the bonds of flesh and blood in order to accept children from other families, offering them whatever is necessary for their well being.”⁶ This is truly an expression acknowledging that we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.