As a parent, there are many things in the media from which I want to shield my child. As a parent of an adopted child, that list only gets longer. Because my adopted child is only six years old, the job has not been too difficult thus far. However, as he gets older, I shudder to think of how my son will be affected by the inaccurate and negative ways that the media portrays adoption.

Even though my son is only six, I have already had to make the decision about whether to let him see the movie Meet the Robinsons. Several of my friends, none of whom have adopted, raved about the movie. However, our Russia Adoption blogger (and adoptive mother), Virginia, had a very different take:

Here's what they don't tell you. The movie opens with a shadowy figure of a woman leaving a baby in a box in a doorway on a dark and stormy night. So, sit down, munch your popcorn and get slammed in the face with abandonment. - Russian Adoptees "Meet The Robinsons"

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Do I want my son to see a child rejected by potential adoptive parents 124 times? No way. If not for Virginia’s post (as well as others here at AdoptionBlogs.com), I would not have even known that adoption was addressed in the movie.

That is exactly what concerns me about raising an adopted child in this culture. The media is quick to mention someone’s adoption if he kills a bunch of people or causes some other tragedy. A person’s adoption is also often mentioned in celebrity stories, even when the adoption has nothing whatsoever to do with the story. (How many times do we have to be reminded that Tom and Nichole adopted their children?)

Adoption is also a common theme in television dramas, often with psychos involved. Either a psychotic birthmother shows up trying to “steal” her child back, or the adoptive parents turn out to be evil control freaks that make the child’s life a living nightmare. I am not saying that these things have never happened in the history of adoption, but these kinds of situations are definitely rare. Despite this, adoption storylines generally shed a negative light on adoption, and who knows how many people believe that garbage?

Meanwhile, I have a child to raise who I do not want to be affected by these slants. As he gets older, I will have less control over his exposure to these storylines. Also, many times you cannot see these stories coming. If the adoption is the twist, then you cannot read about it ahead of time in the TV Guide.

Unfortunately, I do not have any solutions to this problem. I guess I will find my way through this and, hopefully, learn a lot from fellow adoptive mothers about how to best shield my son from being affected by the media.

Related Topics:

• Adoption ABCs - the Media


• Asian adoptees and the Virginia Tech massacre