One of my biggest beefs revolves around people who don't just want us to follow "their" values, but who attempt to change law to do so. None is more obscene then the crusade by a lawyer named Lori Carangelo and her appeals to abolish adoption.
I have only a few words to describe this woman but none that I could print. It is, unfortunately, the only type of description for someone who, due to their own personal issues, would thwart the joy of many deserving children in finding a family that wants them. Less important, but noteworthy, are the desires of many well-meaning parents-to-be who for a variety of reasons cannot have children genetically - or have a place and a heart in their existing families that's open to another child.
Here's a few choice "facts" you'll find on the website of this horrible person:
While many factors come into play with regard to criminal behaviors, the fact of the adoption, and Adopted Child Syndrome is purposely overlooked at trial because it is "politically incorrect" to explore adoption's negative effects on the adoptee. In FBI statistics, 76% of the world's serial killers are in the United States; 90% are male.
Serial killers have been a fascination for forensic psychologists who profile killers by their crime scenes. Separating this group from other adoptees who kill is the fact that they kill strangers. Researchers have noted that, "to an adoptee, everyone is a stranger."
It has long been documented that former foster kids are overrepresented in America's prisons....Example: "69% on inmates in California State Prisons were former foster children; 60% in Massachusetts were foster children" according to testimony on the Congressional Record. The same appears to be true of adoptees.... Example: According to FBI stats: "16% of 500 serial killers are adoptees."http://foia.fbi.gov/... and according to Dr. Mike Aamodt, Radford University, "14% of 225 serial killers are adoptees."
Thankfully, there are those out there who are willing to expose Ms. Carangelo's facts for what they are - pure bullshit. This from Sandra Hanks Benoiton's blog:
What I found surprising is that Ms. Carangelo uses research on the "adopted child syndrome" to support her claims of adoptees mental health issues. The research she quotes is out of date...1953 to be exact. Twenty years later, the University of Washington observed a pattern of birth defects in unrelated children. The common denominator for all these kids was maternal alcoholism. Funny, no where on her site does Ms. Carangelo address the issue of FAS and how that diagnosis provides an adequate explanation for the mental health issues, problems with police and disrupted school experiences that whe blames on adoption. Nor does she discuss the percentage of alcohol affected children who are available for adoption because of neglect related to addiction.
The adoption process is not perfect. There are abuses for certain - horrible abuses - and they should be addressed with oversight and law, both here and internationally - but this bullshit platform of dismantling it altogether due to the kinks in the system is a straw dog - kind of like getting rid of Unicef because a few rogue countries steal the money.
Also, these people do nothing but bombard you with statistics without offering real solutions. What happens to all these children we don't adopt? Can they answer that one? Well, no, they can't. The kids are simply props to them in their crusade. Here's a thread to prove it.
If you dislike adoption, lady - or have a beef with your own past history of it - don't adopt, but don't assume that the entire institution of adoption is by it's nature corrupt and ugly. What's truly ugly is your hateful personal need to apply legal means to this issue and the prejudice and lies apparent from your website. For this, you deserve to be publicly berated.