Parents in Waiting
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3
Years ago a woman knocked on our front door to urge us to vote for a certain politician. She was someone I had worked with earlier in life and she was surprised to hear my answer. We talked for a few minutes and I told her I could not vote for her candidate because he was “Pro-abortion.” She was astounded that I would not be in favor of a woman’s right to choose.
Her immediate question to me was, “Well, are you going to adopt the babies that aren’t wanted by their parents?” In her disgust with my view she continued to indicate that the fate of unwanted children was worse than death. They would live loveless, poverty stricken lives, was her warning.
The good news is that the cure for our abortion epidemic already exists, and it is adoption. Today I read the following:
If, in fact, there are 36 couples lined up for every adoption, there are 4-5 million couples waiting for babies, a number that is 3-4x greater than the 1.2 million babies we annually abort. Imagine the benefits of annually adding another 1.2 million happy and productive citizens.
For every couple who adopts there are another thirty six couples waiting for a baby? No wonder so many American couples are leaving the country to adopt! All these years I have believed a lie – the lie that there would be no loving home for all those aborted babies!
My fear is that adoption is an option that women with unplanned pregnancies do not seriously consider. If they limit the experience of pregnancy and never see the baby – then it will be easier for them. According to the same article the truth is that, emotionally and physically, it is better for the mother to complete the pregnancy than to have an abortion. The mortality rate of women having abortions is higher than that of pregnancy related deaths.
One of the most frequent excuses for abortion that I have heard, especially from younger women, is that their parents or their families would not be able to handle the truth of their daughter’s sin and so it is better if they just never know. As Christian parents, are we so weak? Has the message to our children been that if they are caught in sin we couldn’t face it?
If you still have children at home, what is the message your children receive about the sinful nature that we are all born with? Is it embarrassing or overwhelming for parents to think that our children might be caught in sin? Are we pushing our next generation to make horrible choices so they are free from the condemnation they feel from their families?
As a church family are we willing to support a young woman (or an older one) who makes the choice to complete her pregnancy and place her child up for adoption? There will be emotional damage done for this young woman. She may always wonder where the child is and how they are being treated. They may suffer guilt for not having raised the child themselves. Will we throw our arms around them in comfort or condemn them for their bad behavior?
Would that be easier guilt to bear than the guilt of having killed a baby that could have had a loving home to anyone of three to four million families who would love to have a baby to call their own?
What lies are the women who abort their baby believing about alternatives for abortion and the strength of their families, not to mention their God? Not one baby who has been aborted or who is currently in utero is unwanted by everyone or unplanned by God. Though they come at seemingly inconvenient times and they may require some serious financial burden, children are a blessing of the Lord.
Will you advise the next young woman you hear about in this situation that there is someone out there who does want her baby, who can afford to add a child to their family, and who will care for that child and love that child like their own?