Adoption

But when the fullness of the time had come,

God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law,

that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-6

Three days after April 11, the date of my birth, I left a birthing home in the arms of my new adoptive parents – the only mother and father I have ever known.  They started telling me I was adopted long before I could understand the meaning of their words, ensuring that I would mature into the knowledge that they had chosen me for their child.  As fate would have it, my coloring closely resembled that of my adoptive mother, so most people naturally assumed that I was her birth daughter, and there were never any awkward questions about my parentage.

Last week, Jon Huntsman – a Republican presidential candidate, was rightly outraged by a new political ad launched by one of his opponents, questioning whether his value were American or Chinese – showing pictures of his young daughters, one of whom was adopted from China and the other from India.  To even intimate such an idea is outrageous; to involve young children as pawns against their father’s political ambitions is, in my mind, unforgivable.  Although the current climate in our election culture says anything is fair game, children should never be exploited by anyone, particularly someone who is trying to gain advantage over another. 

Adoption is not a second-class status.  For many children, it is a salvation from an unimaginable life or a certain death.  We who have been adopted were chosen by parents who wanted to love and cherish us. I am, and always have been, proud of being adopted.  Mr. Huntsman’s opponent should be ashamed of himself.  Someone who would target children for his own political gain has no business running this country.