Are Children A Cash Crop

The miracle is eight babies. The tragedy is eight babies, raised by an unemployed single mother. The ethical issues surrounding these tiny miracles are profound. The financial responsibility is great. The moral responsibility is intangible. It is not the dollar amount/burden that these tiny footprints will place upon taxpayers that is disconcerting to me, but rather the burden these kids will feel being one of fourteen, in a house where the mother's mental state is in question. Children are a gift. Every single one of them. These kids are a gift. Raising a child is the single most important responsibility a person can undertake. Will this mother be able to shoulder the enormous responsibility of raising fourteen healthy, confident, productive citizens. I am suspect. I pray she defies the odds. Children are not commodities.

It is incomprehensible to me that a couple wishing to adopt a child must undergo FBI background checks, several visits from social workers, have letters of recommendation written proclaiming that they are, indeed fit to parent, while there is no red tape for those choosing to try IVF. Where was this lady's background check? Did a social worker visit her parent's three bedroom home? Who wrote letters of praise deeming her fit to raise fourteen children, alone? Where is the red tape?

This woman will have enough children to fill the quota on a private school's classroom. What are the social and developmental ramifications that will impact these lives? What does being one of fourteen entail? Are all of the child's emotional needs met? How does one deal with fourteen scraped knees and hurt feelings at one time. The setting becomes as institutionalized as an orphanage. Will these kids have the same attachment issues of those who spent their lives in an institution? Who will fix them? I do not count on the government agencies to kiss every single hurt finger, validate every dream, or listen to every concern that these kids will have. One person simply cannot do it alone. The government cannot do it. How will the selfishness and ignorance of one affect these little innocent lives? Who is responsible to ensure that they are loved?

Even sadder, there are millions of children already waiting to be loved. Just loved. These kids are currently in foster care in the US, and in orphanages abroad. These fourteen children (eight new babies) are now most likely to be a number added to the millions and millions who wait. I pray that these children do not spend their lives shuffling in and out of foster care homes, never really having a place to call home. Reality is however, reality. This is the likely story of their "bright" future. Some will probably find loving homes miles away from sunny California. Others will probably not have that same fortune. Those families who are fortuitous enough to complete their families with one of these precious babies will understand the burden of parenthood. The child will be wanted. Loved. It will be their own family miracle. They will have passed stringent background checks, gone through miles and miles of red tape, and opened their hearts to love their new son(s)/daughter(s). But, adoption is not the answer.

It is always better for a child to be raised with love and care by their birth parents. No parent dreams of placing their child up for adoption. No child dreams of being placed in foster care. Every child dreams of having their mom and dad love on them and nurture them. However, adoption is and can be truly magical. It is a wonderful option to an imperfect situation. While adoption builds families, it also separates families. It is a bandaid on a larger problem. It remains a second best solution. This does not however discount the miracle that transpires through the adoption process. We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life. But those who make their journey home across time and miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's own hands.