For years adoption has been shown in a negative light in the media. Each year numerous movies and television shows are released that show violent adopted children and psycho birth parents coming to reclaim their relinquished children. Rarely does the media present adoption stories that portray well adjusted adoptive children or birth parents.
Crimes committed by adoptive children make the news at a higher rate than the same crimes being committed by biological children. It seems that the mere fact that the child is adopted makes the story worthy of national news coverage. The news and other media outlets like to sensationalize these events, and make it appear that all adopted children are going to one day cause physical harm to thier families.
Recently a news story aired about an adoptive girl who had slowly been poisoning her family with roach spray. A co-worker was quick to point the story out to me and ask if I ever thought about my daughter growing up to be like “other adopted children.” Of course I told her no, and made sure t0 point out that biological children commit heinous crimes against their families just as often as adopted children do. I am not going to live my life with an irrational fear of what probably will never happen.
Adoption does have risk, but so does having a natural child. Each year in the United States there are between 120,000 to 130,000 finalized domestic adoptions. Very few of these adoptions end up being violent situations for any of the parties involved. People who are thinking about adoption should not be afraid to take the plunge because of how adoption is portrayed in the media.