Anti-Adoption? Review of “The Adoption Mystique” by Joanne Wolf Small, MSW
November 14, 2008Amazing Mom Monday: Andrea Roberts at “Reeces Rainbow”
November 17, 2008“Adopting children, regarding and treating them as one’s own children, means recognizing that the relationship between parents and children is not measured only by genetic standards. Procreative love is first and foremost a gift of self. There is a form of ‘procreation’ which occurs through acceptance, concern and devotion. The resulting relationship is so intimate and enduring that it is in no way inferior to one based on a biological connection. When this is also juridically protected, as it is in adoption, in a family united by the stable bond of marriage, it assures the child that peaceful atmosphere and that paternal and maternal love which he needs for his full human development.”
John Paul II, Letter to Adoptive Families (Sept 5, 2000)
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So long as ‘procreation’ in this context is understood to be a spiritual metaphor, and not taken literally, I can understand that. However, I differ in that I believe the same kind of unconditional love and acceptance can happen where the adoptive parent(s) are not married, provided they themselves are in a committed relationship. Equally in the case of single parenthood.
Agreed. Procreation–all creation–works best as a metaphor. We get into trouble when it’s taken literally.
The pope is referring specifically to married couples who adopt, because the complementarity of the adoptive parents most closely approximates the union of the child’s biological parents. The idea that children thrive best when raised in a home with a married mother and father is not unique to John Paul II, however. Sociologists have been saying the same thing for decades (at least)!