This post originally appeared at https://wifamilycouncil.org/radio/adoption-win-win/

2024 | Week of November 4 | Radio Transcript #1591

November is National Adoption Month, and its primary focus is typically on the children currently in the foster care system waiting for their “forever families.” Across the country, organizations help raise awareness for these children in need and provide information and resources to families considering adoption.

Each year, National Adoption Day occurs within this month, and it’s a joyous occasion: courts and organizations throughout America will simultaneously finalize adoption proceedings for scores of children.

The pro-life organization Heartbeat International has several resources on its website that your church or business may want to share during November, in particular to encourage parents who may have adoption on their hearts.^[i] We encourage you to visit HeartbeatInternational.org.

Of course, there are other children waiting to be adopted that are not currently in the foster care system but are in line for private adoptions.

I love this month and this special observance, since I was adopted at just five months of age. When I was three years old, my parents adopted a baby boy to complete our family! Adoption truly is a gift of God’s grace. Many mothers are out there who are not comfortable with abortion but perhaps recognize their child could benefit from a stable, loving home. When these mothers choose adoption over abortion, this is an excellent example of adults putting the needs and rights of children before their own.

The desire to have children and raise a family is a good, godly desire. The Book of Psalms reminds us over and over that children are gifts and blessings to be treasured. Raising children requires sacrifice, constantly putting their needs ahead of the parent’s needs or wants.

For couples struggling with fertility, a hurt unlike any other, the option of IVF (in vitro fertilization), can, at first glance, seem like a good option, reflecting a desire to bring a new life into the world. Unfortunately, there’s a lot about the IVF process that most couples do not fully understand before going down this road; and many IVF clinics fail to inform prospective parents about the various ethical considerations.

IVF is the process of surgically extracting eggs from a female’s body and then combining them with the sperm of a male to create fertilized eggs. Specialists then attempt to transfer the fertilized eggs, or zygotes, into a woman’s uterus, and if successful, the zygote develops into an embryo: a 100% unique person, never to be recreated.^[ii] Remember—at the moment the egg is fertilized, a new human life comes into being—regardless of the scientific name attached to the stage of life.

One of the primary concerns with IVF, however, is the careless creation and destruction of embryos–tiny humans. Typically, in an IVF treatment, excess embryos are created and, if not implanted, are then unethically and immorally frozen or discarded by clinics.

Then, even if successful implantation occurs, many doctors opine in the instance where multiple eggs are fertilized, that there are now “too many” embryos and encourage “pregnancy reduction,” which is the selective abortion of just some of the embryos already implanted.

Many couples have embarked on the IVF journey out of a good, godly desire to have children and grow their family, and then realized the pitfalls of the process when it was too late. In addition to the children in the foster care system awaiting adoption, this leaves an incalculable number of embryos created with a likely future of being destroyed. Some organizations do offer embryo adoption, often called “snowflake” adoptions; it must be ensured in these cases, however, that children go to stable homes with a both a mother and a father.

Ensuring a so-called “right” to IVF, as some politicians are currently doing, without requiring that any embryos created be implanted is neither pro-life nor pro-family. Allowing embryos to be purchased at will by single adults or same-sex couples also neglects the fundamental rights of children, rights that adults must put before their own desires, no matter how difficult that may be.

At Wisconsin Family Council, we hurt for those couples experiencing infertility, and we acknowledge their godly desire to grow their family. The pain of this type of want cannot be overstated.

During this year’s National Adoption Month, we encourage married, male-female couples to ask the Lord whether adoption is part of your future. In the majority of adoptions, it’s a win for both the parents and the child.

For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Julaine Appling, reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

[i] https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/national-adoption-awareness-month#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%20November%20is%20recognized,children%20currently%20in%20foster%20care.

[ii] https://www.hli.org/resources/invitro-fertilization-ethics/

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