Has it suddenly become vogue for rich white women to adopt poor

black african babies?

Don't get me wrong - I think anyone willing to adopt a poor unfortunate child into his or her family is a wonderful thing. There are so many unwanted and uncared for children in the world that need love and help.

However, my concern is has these children been relegated to the stature of a fashion accessory?

pun, "Vogue."

that's who I was thinking of when I posted the thread title :D

Just another fashion statement.

Madonna and Angelina Jolie seem like fairly decent people. I'm not even sure Paris is human.

small enough to fit into her handbag.

Sheesh.

doing this?

Mia Farrow - black kid, don't know if he's African
Nicole Kidman - black kid, don't know if he's African
Angelina Jolie
Madonna

that's just off the top of my head.

the other three women... it sounds kind of more recent maybe.

Hope they all give kids a loving, stable home. Not like Mommy Dearest

and Mia has more than one black adopted child.

I admire the hell out of her.

Most of the children she adopted had/has mental or physical problems.

I hope not. After all, they are still children.
But I think that at least several "celebrities" who did so have a history of being engaged in helping poor countries so they witnessed the condidtions there firsthand.

humanitarian element as well in the equation. Josephine Baker, an African American, found fame and fortune as a singer-dancer in France and Europe from the 1920's to her death. She adopted many children of several different ethnicities and nationalities and called them her "Rainbow Tribe". She didn't take these children to get good PR. A few years ago, her adult children spoke on 60 Minutes about what a caring and concerned mother she was to each of them. My point is, you never know. You can only hope for the sake of the kids.

with one of her adopted sons.

Whatever the case, there's nothing negative I can see about it. Hopefully, she'll set a good example of more to come by other people who care.

The thing that gets me about DU is no matter what good thing someone does, no matter what good example they are setting or maybe just what great act they make because they truly believe in it, someone's got to knock them down for it. Seriously, this board needs some prozac!

:eyes:

Africa is, like, so last month. She, like, should sooooo adopt an Australian aborigine instead!

and I may be very wrong about this, but I looked at it and saw a rich white woman buying a black child from its impoverished father.

I hought we had taken care of that problem.

If Madonna and others like her would really care to do something for children like this, they would contribute money for health care and schools or basic needs or help create jobs in those nations. That one little boy deserves a decent life, but there are millions like him who are equally deserving.

:hi:

Madonna 's charity Raising Malawi is setting up an orphan care center to provide food, education and shelter for up to 4,000 children. It will have projects based on Kabbalah, Judaism's mystical sect, which counts the 48-year-old singer among its devotees.

nm

Joan Crawford, Mommie Dearest, adopted, and so did our wonderful Ronald Reagan and his then-wife Jane Wyman. There were a number of other stars that did this, too.

playing up to the media about how they had saved a poor child from a life of misery. But looking back on some of the stories from those children, now adults, they weren't treated very well once the PR became old news.

and warring.

Most end up as underage sex slaves or 20 hour a day workers with no rights. I wish wealthy white women would adopt whole villages and towns of children.

And by the way, wealthy white couples have been adopting poor light-skinned babies from China, Eastern Europe, etc. for decades now, paying a higher premium for the whiter skin.

Do you really think that this is a bad thing? Let's do a study of the millions of babies in foster care in the US - they never get molested or abused or neglected, right? - and you'll see that millions, yes millions, of kids are borne by biological parents and then dumped like used toys.

I doubt the "relegated to the status of fashion accessory" is a category of children among foster children or child prostitutes.

I didn't say it was a "bad" thing.

I stated such in my original post.

who cares about kids and has the time, love and finances to give a kid a better life. If the actions of the stars of today help more kids find loving homes then I wholeheartedly support them.

It cannot be all bad.

:)

:hi:

I'd like to see that.

The language was a little strong, wasn't it.

Good churchgoin' folk posting there, huh?

not suddenly :hi:

:hi:

youv'e been missed!!!!

how the hell are you???

:loveya:

:hi: i am doing well, midori. the 1st anniversary is approaching re: dad this month, and of course the entire holiday season was awful last year with sis in the hospital during xmas. we a month break in nov, and our last thanksgiving together last year, the first without dad. this year will be the first without cynthia.
we will be in atlanta this year for xmas, just to give her kids and mom and all of us a different experience. if you are still there, i will have to look you up. sorry...the news about oneighty and alarcojon really hit home :cry:
:loveya:

Hey NB!!!!

Long time no see! :hi: Sounds like things have been pretty damned hairy for you and your family. Hope '07 brinsg better things for you all.

Drop an IM and let's get together and catch up! :hug:

Hell

how's it going? tinoire was asking about you recently. yeah...it's been a rough year or so, but things are looking up.
:hi: great to see you and let's chat s'more soon.

:)

:shrug: just not the same

I believe in Angelina's sincerity. Now Madonna's I truly question.

...that when I heard that Madonna was adopting an African child the first thing I thought was that she was trying to be the new Angelina. I've never liked Madonna and I hope to God that I'm wrong about her in this instance because no child should have to be someones publicity stunt.

Angelina had worked for The UN as a representative and traveled to many poor countries before adopting a child.

The country from which Madonna adopted had to actually waive its adoption law in order for her to take him out of the country. I am sure a few million was involved. :(

is definitely no stranger to publicity stunts....

But it sure beats lavishing tens of thousands of dollars on a dog.

As an adoptive mother of a girl from China, it bothers me. I'm Caucasian, but not wealthy by a long shot. However, hearing someone refer to any adoptees, from the U.S. or any foreign country, as a "fashion accessory" deeply offends me. (I'm not angry at the OP, because I don't think you were trying to be offensive at all. I just want to kindly explain why the adoptive community finds this sort of thing offensive.)

It's an offense toward the children, first of all, because...well, if you can't figure out why calling a child a fashion accessory is demeaning, I don't think any explanation will be enough to help you out.

It's an offense against the woman or couple involved, especially when referring to celebs or wealthy people, because you are assuming that because of their fame or wealth, they can't possibly be doing this out of altruistic, humanitarian reasons. It's playing into the stereotype that, especially rich women, don't have the heart or brains enough to shoulder the task of opening their lives to a child in need.

I don't know the individual motivations of celebrities who have adopted. But I know that speculating that it's become "in vogue" or fashionable only helps feed that stereotype. I don't see or hear the adoptive parents themselves promoting it. Just other people observing and speculating when it's not really their business.

Again, not trying to scold anybody here. Just suggesting that when it comes to decisions about building families, everyone (regardless of money or status) deserves a little respect and the benefit of the doubt, until they actually prove that criticism is due.

And there are some uninformed people in this thread who don't even know that Madonna is doing more than just adopting a child from a nation suffering from the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

http://www.raisingmalawi.org/rm/02-what.html

Bravo to you for adopting a little one!! I for one have no plans to have children myself - there are already so many here now that need homes, I plan on only adopting as soon as I'm a little more financially stable. I only wish more would do the same.

To both of you who responded to my post.

I wish more would do the same, too, but only after they really understand what they are undertaking--the challenges, the risks, the heartaches, as well as the very deep joys and precious memories. As a representative for our adoption agency, I actually used to see if I could talk people OUT of adopting, because I knew if I could, then they weren't really ready. And if they were unswayed, then they had what it takes to be successful at it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5725446

that little guy was adopted by a DUer.

isn't he just precious?

:loveya:

Very precious!

*sigh* We want to adopt again, but we have to have the finances to do it. We're trying to get there, though.

Thanks for the link. :)

There were compassionate women adopting and taking in "crack babies" to nurse - as the action gained attention, it brought more women into the movement to rescue these kids, not all for the best reasons, which is true about any thing.

But there was a backlash against the movement itself, resulting in jokes about the women discussing the adopting "crack babies" the same way they would discuss their tennis bracelets.

one of Denzel Washington's first movies.

If you did see it, you'll catch the joke. :hi:

.

children from impoverished areas, hey, if they want those kids live a better life from where they come from why not?

if they are doing it for the right reason(s).

I mean, look at what Joan Crawford did to her adopted kids. Fucked them up for life.

adopted a child from every country, well not every country but about 10 kids she adopted, but she just loved children.

did you know that Josephine got into rough times, and almost lost her home. Grace Kelly stepped in and helped her save it from repossession.

Here's her tribe:

a chunk off the ole block

:hi:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I'm an adoptee who was raised by the best mother in the world (yeah, ok, I'm biased). I couldn't possible have any other view. That being said it would be an even greater sin to neglect an adopted child than I can even verbalize.

:loveya:

Always love your posts darlin! :hi:

and she's been doing a lot of humanitarian work in Africa with children. I can see how if she wanted another child her heartstrings would have been tugged at by the children there who are available for adoption.

http://www.raisingmalawi.org/

For the Madonna cynics around here, please take some time and check out this website. There was a Time magazine article about a few months ago, as well, profiling that she's for real here.

"But one of the partnerships she has formed is with developing-world economic guru Jeffrey Sachs (who suffers no dilettantes)..."

She's doing a lot to raise awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Madonna has always been a leader in HIV/AIDS awareness, even at the beginning of this pandemic. She's got only the best intentions when it comes to Malawi.

thank you very much.

My opinion/respect for Madonna just went up a few notches.

Guess what? My daughter's name is Madonna (tho she was born when the Material Girl was about 12 years old) :)

Blonde Blue eyed ones....we gatta have balance here....

Jus thinking...

Come, we go Sweden

:hi:

Come, we go Florida help make DIKES, fill sand bags...

That was part of the theme.

scroll up to see my response to blm :hi:

:D

I guess we'll find out in 25 years, after the memoirs come out.

hard for change, using all of the money, resources, contacts, and education obtained in America. Maybe one of these adoptees can one day help millions of people in their home countries escape poverty.

n/t

No, that's not a "best scenario." For international adoptees, there's an ongoing tension between how they feel about the country of their birth and the country in which they are raised. But to call their birth country their "home" country is to misunderstand the nature of adoption.

My child's home country is America. She is a U.S. citizen, and is being raised as an American.

To the best of our abilities, we help her learn about and respect her birth country.

But it's never going to be the same as if she was raised in China. It's not even the same as if she were being raised in a Chinese-American family. International adopted children are in a unique situation, and it's an ongoing process to figure out how best to deal with the challenges that the loss of their birth culture brings.

It's not fair to any of them to say that the "best scenario" is for them to go back to their birth country to help. Some of them may choose to do that. Others will want to follow a different path here in the U.S. or in some other country. It's important not to send the message to any of these children that because they had the "privilege" of being adopted into a wealthier society, they now "owe" anything to either that society or to their birth country. They need to have the same range of options and same freedom to make their own way in the world that any other child has. The adoption HAS to happen without those sort of conditional strings attached, if it is really to be in the best interest of the child.

to the beat of just one drum.
What might be right for you,
might not be right for some.
It takes Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.

:)

:eyes:

Let'em suffer that would be better? :banghead: