The Benefits of Adoption

Once we have laid the foundations for adoption from the scriptures, it is helpful to look at the facts and realities of adoption today. Many comprehensive studies have confirmed the positive outcomes of adoption for birth parents, children, and adoptive parents.

The benefits for young women who choose adoption are many. One study found that single teen mothers who chose adoption for their children were as satisfied with their decision as those who chose to parent. Studies have also shown that unmarried young women who make adoption plans for their babies have higher educational aspirations, are more likely to finish school, and less likely to live in poverty and receive public assistance than those who parent. They also delay marriage longer, are more likely to marry eventually and are less likely to repeat an out-of-wedlock pregnancy than those who become single parents.

Of all the options in an unmarried pregnancy, planning for adoption is chosen the least often. On a national scale, only 2% of unmarried women who carry their babies to term make adoption plans. Perhaps if more women were presented with a comprehensive, biblically-rooted view of adoption, they might choose it over abortion or single parenting. A birth mother who make an adoption plan shares her thoughts:

I was single, no prospects of marriage. I thought about where I would be in 10 years, looking back. Would I rather look back on a life that began and then abruptly ended ? Or, would I want to look back on a life that I knew still existed, even if I had no part in it? I could make something positive out of something negative.

I wanted my baby to have a mother, a father, and lots of love. I was in no position to offer that. I knew I couldn't end its life, but I also knew that I couldn't give it anything more than that - life. But I did know that there were people out there who could. Adoption as a solution to my problem pregnancy seemed the first and best choice. My baby has loving parents, grandparents, and cousins. She has love and affection and everything I knew I couldn't give here and desperately wanted her to have.

Children Thrive in Adoption

A recent study interviewed over 700 teenagers who had been adopted as infants. The study, the largest over of adopted teens and their families, looked at various indicators of well-being. Among other things, it found these teens:

• Received and benefitted from lots of support from family, friends, and others;
• Were involved in many positive, structured youth activities, such as sports, music, congregational youth programs, and community organizations;
• Saw themselves as being as strong as their peers in personal identity and self-esteem;
• Showed high levels of caring values and behaviors, such as volunteering.

Another study compared government data on four groups: 1) children adopted into a two-parent family; 2) children born into a two-parent family; 3) children being raised by an unmarried mother; 4) children being raised by their grandparents. It found that:

• Children from Group 1 did well in school, repeating a grade at the rate of only 7 percent compared to 12 percent of children in Group 2.
• The first two groups of children share similarly high scores regarding general health.
• Group 1 enjoys a quality of home environment superior to all the other groups.
• Group 1 has access to health care that is superior to all other groups.

Please see our resource:
"Adoption: Five Myths and Realities"

This bulletin insert is the second in a four-part series made available to churches by Presbyterians Pro-Life. Presbyterians Pro-Life seeks to equip and encourage the local church to support adoption. Churches can play a role in adoption by encouraging young women in crisis prenancies to consider adoption, providing resources to couples who desire to build or grow their family through adoption, and helping children here and abroad who wait for permanent families. We publish written materials on adoption and network with pastors and lay people interested in adoption issues. For more information, please contact:

Presbyterians Pro-Life
P.O.Box 11130
Burke, VA 22009
(703) 569-9474
email: ppl@ppl.org
http://www.ppl.org/