Warning! I'm about to get on my soapbox. Paula Zahn is a moron and the panel she hosted last night to discuss China's new adoption regulations was even worse! Not only are they idiots, they are bigots who possess every disgusting trait of racism that they claim to be fighting against.
Last night CNN and Paula Zahn did a piece that was supposed to be about China's new regulations regarding foreign adoptions. Paula and her panel discussed this topic for about two minutes, and then the panel took the discussion in an entirely different direction. The panel (which did not consist of anyone who knows anything at all about international adoption, or has actually adopted themselves) repeatedly made a mockery of American families who have adopted children from China. One of her panelists said that Americans who have adopted from China have "this belief, this perception, irrational as it might be, that if you adopt a little girl from China, she's going to be intelligent and more loveable" To this, another panelist responds, "Like the porcelain doll".
Here's my response.....WHHHHAAAAAAT?????? Oh and by the way, referring to Asian girls as "porcelain dolls" or "China dolls" is a racial slur with very negative connotations.
But, the panel did not stop there. Oh yes, it did get worse. They went on, continually, to insinuate that Americans who have adopted from China are racists who would never consider adopting a Black child, Hispanic child, or Muslim child. And, they posed my favorite (MOST INFURIATING) question of all when one panelist said, "What's the big deal with Chinese children? Enlighten me, please help me out, what's the infatuation with Chinese children, and why do they avoid other children -- children who are here in America, who are looking for homes?" To this Paula responds, "But realistically, how are you ever going to change that bias."
Here's my response -- WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT??? BIAS??? At this point I wanted to vomit. Although her panel clearly had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, they are educated people and that is the scary part. If educated people actually believe this crap and think this way, then what in the world does the average American think about my family? So I had to formulate my own response and here it is.
People choose adoption for many different reasons, but in the end it comes down to wanting to build a family. Adoption, whether it is domestic or international, is not for the faint of heart. You have to pour your heart and soul into every part of the process. And, the process is long.
First you have to have a homestudy conducted and reveal every intimate detail about your life. You have to have background checks conducted, fingerprints taken. You must also get a physical and have your health evaluated, and you must disclose everything about your finances. Then you must go through the endless bureaucratic process with the U.S. government. and, on top of all that there is a financial burden that insurance does not cover. Then you must wait...months...years...to complete the process and be united with your child.
Adoption is not something you can enter into lightly, without much thought and consideration. We are a typical adoptive family. Like all others that I know, we conducted months of research before we decided to embark on our international adoption journey. And after that there was much more research of all the countries that conduct foreign adoptions to decide which country program was best for our family. We chose China for many reasons which I won't go into here because it doesn't matter why we chose it. It was our personal decision. I can tell you however, that we didn't just sit down one day and say to each other, "Well dear, let's see, where can we go to adopt a child that will be smart and become a doctor, and one that is a cute littel porcelain doll, too...Oh, let's go to China, those Chinese people are really smart and those little girls look just like little dolls." The fact that these words were uttered on a national news program makes me sick!! No Mr. Martin, I did NOT go to China for these reasons. In fact, contrary to your ignorant opionions, my months of lengthy research on Chinese adoption prepared me for the development delays and "orphanage behavior" that many institutionalized children suffer from. By the grace of God, and love and nurture our daughter is healthy, and yes even smart today, but the day we met her at 10 months old she could not sit up or bear any weight on her legs, and she did not walk until she was 16 months old. Many internationally adopted children require physical therapy to overcome the lack of stimulation they receive in an institutional setting. Mr. Martin, your comments are reprehensible!!
My point is that
no adoptive family should ever have to endure having their motivation to adopt judged or questioned by anyone, especially by people who have never considered adoption and know nothing about domestic and foreign adoption. Adoption is a matter of the heart, and those that choose adoption, whether it be domestic or foreign, are doing so to provide a loving and stable family to a child that has none. That alone is the motivation of families who choose to adopt. How that can be twisted and presented negatively by a panel of ignorant people and a bad journalist, and broadcast on national telelvision is beyond my comprehension!Well, I've spent enough time on this. I need to get back to parenting my smart and beautiful U.S. citizen daughter who just happens to have been born in China............
