[dpen6]

Originally Posted by GDSinPA

Sorry about the bad link.

Prepared Remarks by Wes Gullett : RNCAPFeed : The Rocky Mountain News

I think you'll see what I mean when you read the text above.

Actually, it's not just the wording that's a problem. It's encouraging your kids to be grateful that you saved them that's a problem. It's likening them to charity that's a problem. Think about how that feels to an adoptee?

The reality that a child may have or would have had a better life (or even no life) in their home country is beside the point. The problem comes in how you present their becoming a part of your family and whether you raise them to believe that you're their savior rather than their parent. In other words, if you want to save a child, there are plenty of ways to do so, but that should be separate and distinct from parenting them. Saving is not a healthy thing to have over your children, IMO.

It's OK to talk about how adoption has impacted your life, perhaps even to advocate for adoption (ethically of course), but to have your life story presented to the world in the context of your parents saving you is not acceptable. A child should not be encouraged to believe they should be grateful for being adopted, which is the actual end result of this for Wes Gullet's daughter (which you'll see in the text of his speech.

Does that make better sense?

Blessings,
-Greg

Grag, from an adoptee viewpoint...you got it.....