Recently, the adoption social media world had a new entry—this video by a pastor in the US named Jesse Butterworth:
Naturally, the video appeals to many adoptive parents, because so many of us have been asked these exact same questions—or ones similar in nature—and, quite frankly, there are already hundreds of posts on the interwebs about what TO say and what NOT to say about adoption. It's also nice to find a rare insertion of humour into an important subject.
I don't fully agree with all of Rev. Butterworth's suggested "correct" questions or terminology, but at the same time, I applaud his effort toward adoption awareness and sensitivity, so I'm not going to nitpick.
However, I did come across a round-table discussion about this video on a site called "Lost Daughters," written by adult adoptees. Their take on the video is that it may be funny to some, but at the same time, they feel it is demeaning to adoptees to compare them to breasts and that this video was really only considering the perspective of the adoptive parents, not adult adoptees, which, in light of the fact that it was made by adoptive parents, isn't all that surprising, I guess. I do agree with their opinion that many of the questions presented in the video don't really need to be asked in ANY form or language.
For me and my family, we do occasionally find some questions offensive or irritating, but in general, we try to look at questions asked with good intentions as opportunities to educate others about adoption. Reverend Butterworth has said that he made this video to protect his daughter, and I totally get that. Children who have been adopted should never have to hear some of the questions that their parents get asked.
What are your thoughts?
Does this video succeed in educating people about adoption questions? What would you do differently if you didn't like the video?
Hi! Thanks for reading my post! You may also like reading about what this woman did to educate the public about inappropriate adoption questions, or you may want to find out how you can educate yourself about adoption.
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