Five Reasons For Giving Thanks For Adoption

What’s Adoption?

Adoption is a legal process which creates a parent-child relationship between individuals who do not have that biological relationship. The extinguishing of the legal rights of the biological parents paves the way for the creation of a new family recognized in the eyes of the law. The adoptive parents assume all rights and responsibilities for the child whom they adopt. The child receives the benefit of having a permanent family. Having such a process available to create families takes on added importance given the view of the family unit as the building block of human society.

Adoption Removes Children From Foster Care

Children deserve a loving, permanent home. But for thousands, the home in which they find themselves, a foster home, is merely temporary. The adoption process, however, provides a great social service. It serves as a means for children’s removal from the state welfare system and for them to obtain permanency and a forever family.

As of fiscal year 2022, the most recent year with data available, some 369,000 children were in foster care according to the Adoption And Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). Neglect accounted for 62% of the removals from their home and placement in foster care that year. Once in the state welfare system, the average child remained in such care for almost two years, a long time for a child to be without permanency. In 2022, adoption allowed 27% of the exits from foster care, or approximately 52,895 adoptions. The number of adoptions from foster care since 2012 has been between 50,000 and 60,000 annually.

Giving Thanks Adoption Provides An Alternative To Abortion

Adoption gives a woman facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy another option to consider. In addition to parenting the child she is carrying or aborting it, she may choose to make an adoptive placement. While she may not want or simply be unable to raise a child, others may be in a position to do so. Why not give the innocent child a chance at a good life?

And the chance to think about such an option may arise more often than many realize. A report released by the Guttmacher Foundation, which organization supports access to abortion, found more than a million abortion were provided in the US in 2023. The precise number cited, 1,026,700, stood as the highest number performed in over a decade.

Adoption Gives Adoptees A Chance At Success In Life

No one is guaranteed success in life, but the foundation of a loving and permanent home offers a better opportunity for someone to succeed. Without such a foundation, the achievements of some well known individuals likely would not have occurred. Imagine our world without them.

Take GOAT female gymnast Simone Biles for example. She drifted in and out of foster care before her grandparents stepped up to adopt her. Their loving support and countless hours taking her to and from gymnastics classes and competitions allowed Simone to fulfill her dream of reaching the Olympics. She not only participated in these athletic competition but became the most decorated gymnast in history.

Dave Thomas’ mother, a young unmarried woman, placed her son for adoption shortly after birth. He, of course, grew up to become a fast-food tycoon as the founder of Wendy’s. But Thomas never forgot his life story and became a staunch and active adoption advocate.

Steve Jobs helped to change the technological face of our world. Placed for adoption shortly after birth, he grew up to co-found, chair, and run Apple, Inc.

Believers understand must follow Jesus. But how does that assignment translate to the real world? Assisting with adoption stands as a great opportunity to follow Him.

Jesus expressly talked about what specific actions our Father looks for in His followers. James 1:27 states: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Orphans are those little ones who are literally (through death) or figuratively (through incapacity, incarceration, addiction, etc.) without parents. In Matthew 9: 14 Jesus wanted the little children to come to Him, and we can assist with that connection today when adoptive placement in faith-filled homes occurs.

Believers do not necessarily have to adopt children in need of a home. Providing emotional, prayer, and physical support to those who are adopting or have adopted also assists. Volunteer to babysit, cook a meal, or perform tasks freeing adoptive parents for time with their children. Donate to assist those adopting either directly or through vetted adoption resources. Many churches today are creating adoption support groups to follow through with James 1:27. If Christians who serve a God of love won’t help children in need, who will?

Giving Thanks Adoption Undergirds Our Faith

All Christians are adopted. The process of adoption in our world simply presents a tangible example of how we fit into God’s family. In Ephesians 1:5, Paul states God predestined us for “adoption to sonship” through Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “adoption to sonship” bears a legal meaning–the standing of an adopted male heir under Rome law.  The legal process of Jesus paying our debt of sin makes it possible for those who accept Him to become legal children and heirs of God.

Reasons For Giving Thanks For Adoption

The fact National Adoption Month and Thanksgiving both occur in November should compel us to consider adoption and why we should give thanks for that legal process. Its existence allows children a way out of foster care, provides a viable option to abortion, offers a foundation for possible future success, allows us a way to put our faith in action, and illustrates how believers become a part of God’s family. These five reasons for giving thanks for adoption compel us all to recognize it this month as one of the the many blessings God has bestowed upon us.