One of my biggest pet peeves in the world of adoption is the way we all (not just birthmothers but adoptees and adoptive parents too) are portrayed in the media.


You know what I’m talking about. Birthmothers just gave away their children, adoptive parents rescued them, poor adoptees were just abandoned, and expectant mothers considering adoption are referred to as birthmothers. Journalists often use the wrong terms or negative language while reporting the news. Often times, they will bring up adoption to describe a person when it’s not really appropriate to the story. No matter what part of the adoption triad we represent, we all have seen poor and shady articles.


So, what can we do about it besides complain?
Educate the media! If we, the people touched by adoption, do not educate the media then who will? A lot of times the things that we complain about and that are jumping out at us are the stereotypes and the inappropriate adoption language used by journalists. If they are not personally touched by adoption, they might not know better. We must teach and provide them with the tools and resources so that they can learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.


When you read a newspaper article or see a new story on TV that uses poor or inaccurate adoption language or that you find offensive for one reason or another, take a moment and email that person and let them know.


How is one email going to make a difference?
Now you are probably thinking like I used to, what kind of difference is little ole’ me emailing them going to make?? But if every single person who read an offensive article or saw an offensive news story, then had that very same thought, it WOULD make a difference because that would be multitudes.

In my next post, I will share some tips when writing a letter to the media, so stay tuned.

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Related Resources:
Promoting a Positive Image
Common Terms Used in the Adoption Community