The Baby Thief

Prior to Georgia Tann, adoptions were rare in the United States. The “science” of eugenics had convinced Americans that mental illness, disability and even moral traits could be inherited. Abandoned children were viewed as coming from a poor gene pool. Few people volunteered to provide homes for these children. Georgia Tann changed that and in the process created the institution of adoption in America. Her strategies for obtaining healthy, white children required that adoption records were kept falsified and closed. Many of the children were kidnapped. Birth parents were lied to. Single women who gave birth to healthy newborns were told that their child died during childbirth.

The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption by Barbara Bisantz Raymond is a must read for every one touched by adoption. It was both difficult to read and hard to put down. And, despite the topic presents a surprisingly balanced view of adoption. This is no doubt related to the fact that the author is an adoptive mother.  

Adoption, a respected institution that has brought millions of people joy, reflected more flatteringly than I wanted it to on Georgia, softening her edges, making haze of her essence. I was accustomed to thinking of her solely as having hurt children, demeaned them, sold, even killed them. I was accustomed to focusing on those she stole, who lost parents, siblings, histories; whose mothers lost not only babies but their babies’ babies — grandchildren — and on and on: unimaginable, immeasurable, unquantifiable grief. But, an unknowable percentage of the more than five thousand children Georgia sold had in fact lost their parents to death, relinquishment, or abandonment, and, without her intervention might have died on baby farms.

As a woman blessed by the institution of adoption, I couldn’t help but feel connected to the story of Georgia Tann. Would I be parenting if she had never sought to popularize the practice? I was naive to adoption when I began the journey that ended with my adopting Marissa. In fact, I was surprised when I got a new birth certificate with my name identifed as “Mother.” I thought that my quest ended with a court decree that obligated me to parent Marissa and gave Marissa the same rights, duties and responsibilities that a child born to me would enjoy. I learned quickly that adoption can be corrupt, that the child’s best interest isn’t always central in decisions made.

The last section of this book describes efforts to reform adoption laws. I am a Christian; I hope that is obvious to anyone reading my blog. When I became a Christian, the heritage and sins of the “universal church” became my heritage. The history of the universal church contains things that I am not particularly proud of and I had a visceral negative response to the church’s response to the issue of reforming adoption laws. The Christian Right wants to leave adoptees without access to their history. They base their argument on the unproven fear that women might, maybe choose to abort a child if they cannot be assured privacy. These groups, who claim a Judeo-Christian worldview, are wrong on the issue of adoption and open record. It is just as likely, perhaps more likely, that a woman would choose abortion because she couldn’t stand to abandon a child under our current adoption laws; laws that leave a child with a lifetime of questions that may never be answered.

The Bible is almost silent on the issue of human adoption. Recently, John Piper, preached a sermon entitled Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel. In the sermon he attempts to tie the adoption of children to the Christian’s spiritual adoption as God’s sons. He states he wants to create a “culture of adoption” in the church, a culture opposed to the culture of abortion, death and birth control. While I believe God calls individuals to adopt, the universal church should be about the business of orphan prevention. Besides, as pointed out in this book, it was the popularization of adoption that corrupted it. It wasn’t until many people wanted to adopt children that unscrupulous agents had to resort to stealing children to meet the demand for them.

I don’t think that making adoption a “thing to do” is a something Christians should embrace.  Children who have had rough beginnings often have behavioral and emotional problems. Many Christians cannot differentiate these problems from sin; they lack the understanding and gifting to parent hurting children. When Marissa was first placed with me, I found very little support in the Christian community for her behavioral challenges. As important, if Christians are called by the church rather than by the Holy Spirit to move in the arena of adoption, I fear that the “need” for adoptable children will create an environment in which unethical adoption practices flourish. While attempting to create a better world for adoptable and abandoned children, we may instead, inadvertently, create a market for children.

Finally, as in all things, the church should look to Scripture, to guide adoption practices and policies. What does the Bible say about the physical adoption of children? I am not talking about our spiritual relationship with a perfect, heavenly father; I am talking about the imperfect relationship formed between imperfect parents and a child placed in their care. There are only three adoptions of that kind mentioned in the Bible.

• Moses: When Moses was adopted by Pharoah’s daughter, the inspired Word still identifies him as a brethren of Israel. His biological past as a seed of Abraham was preserved. Closed adoption records eradicate a person’s connection to their biological past. There is no Scriptural support for closed adoptions.
• Esther: She was adopted by Mordecai, her cousin. She was raised as an Israelite. Her past wasn’t hidden from her either.
• Genubath: The son of Hadad, the Edomite, who was raised as one of Pharaoh’s sons. Interestingly, the name Genubath means “stolen or theft.”

Edited to add: Bobbie reminded me that I forgot a Biblical adoption!

• Samuel was raised by Eli: Elkanah and Hannah, his father and mother, visited him every year, bringing him a robe made by his mother. That story wouldn’t lend support to the practice of closed, sealed record adoptions either ~

Hat Tip:Harlow’s Monkey who recommended this book

Related: Those Who Support the Suppression of Adoptee’s Rights