October 2, 2006
Part 8
Q. How do we know what kinds of families children need?
Mr. Stanton's position here, supported by Child Trends and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), is that children do best when raised by both of their married, biological parents. I highly doubt any reasonable person would argue with him on this, and I certainly won't, but I hope he's banned "The Ugly Duckling" from being read to his five children. However, it begs several more questions which he does not take the time to address; Are we going to begin enforcing the marriage of young, pregnant girls to the child's biological father? Should we deny couples who are physically incapable of producing their own biological offspring the honor of being parents? What do we do with all the kids in foster care currently available for adoption?
What if tomorrow morning we woke up in a parallel universe. One in which Mr. Stanton and his wife, ready to begin their own family discover Mr. Stanton is physically unable to reproduce? Would the Stantons simply shrug their shoulders and walk away from their dream of a big, happy family? No, of course they wouldn't, they would grieve the loss of their dream, but then they would get a new dream. And they would go out and fulfill that dream, maybe they would use modern science to produce a child that was 50% biologically theirs, or maybe they would adopt. They would buy bikes, attend school programs, hold backyard barbeques, and wait up late at night for their children to return home safely. They would cry at graduations, weddings and the addition of each new grandchild. All their friends, neighbors and co-workers would stand by, shaking their heads and comment "This was not best for those children."
Absurd? Of course it is, we would applaude the Stantons, perhaps more so because of their struggles in reaching their dream.
Here is an interesting quote taken from Focus on the Family's website. The question is posed "Are adoptive children more likely to be rebellious than children raised by biological parents." In answering Dr. Dobson states
"As with so many other behavioral issues the critical factors are the particular temperment of the child and how he or she is handled by the parents."
Focus on the Family has a strong position on adoption, from this webpage "Every child is precious in the eyes of God and deserves the chance to be loved". "God is preparing the hearts and homes of families all across this nation to receive these children." Perhaps Dr. Dobson is unaware of the Child Trends and CLASP conclusions about biological families.
Posted by Anna at October 2, 2006 12:05 AM