I rarely do this but every now and then, my need to rant gets the better of me. Last night, I came across a blog. The writer was considering adoption and decided to adopt from Vietnam. I’ll summarize here. Her concern was Agent Orange, how it was used in the south and how most orphanages were located there. She was happy to find there was an orphanage in Hanoi. No nasty war-chemical and “the north is more influenced from China than the south”. She follows by saying she originally wanted to adopt from China. Her red thread had simply morphed into a bowl of baby-pho.
I knew better than to read, but I couldn’t help myself.
It’s interesting to read about the selection process some AP’s go through when it comes to what country and the criteria for their little chosen ones. This particular AP specifically wanted an “Asian” child and settled on Vietnam. She’d originally wanted to adopt a Chinese baby but a Vietnamese one would do. Damn, too bad a chemical, developed and used by her own country eliminated all the poor “orphans” born in the south.
The part that really gets me is where she talks about God. He’d created a baby just for her baby-hungry arms and of course, she wanted to do God’s work. Yeah, it all comes down to good old Christian charity and destiny but not for any babies older than a few months who were born in the south. Oh, and no boys allowed either.
Funny. Not.
It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a Bible, but as I remember it, “the least of these” are not the healthiest, most beautiful babies who are the least likely to have health issues due to Agent Orange. Please. Leave the charity/destiny thing out of this.
note: I’m not linking this blog for obvious reasons. Anyone wanting the url is welcome to email a request.
Not so different from how so many American kids in the system are “weeded out” by potential APs, n’est-ce pas?
Good lord. Add another pin to the CWAP map. At least we know that CWAPs don’t disciminate in which Asian countries they choose to reduce to convenient sources for THEIR children.
I fear it’s just a matter of time before they start coming up with other colored threads for the rest of the countries that aren’t China. Or what the hell — why not just “borrow” China’s already-borrowed red thread?
Leila, I’ve heard that same thought expressed many times but that’s a whole other can of worms. Are you moving to WP?
Ji-in, I’m having nightmares of Vietnam sonogram photos and stupid t-shirts with…ugh make it go away! Will hijacked quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh start showing up next?
I fear for the child that grows up and reads a blog like that written by their own aparent. Oh well..gee mom.. I feel so lucky that you SETTLED for me. Too bad China was out of the question but I’m the next best thing, right?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see either the use of different colored threads or a borrowing of the red thread. I get the impression there some out there who see us an interchangeable substitute people.