Adoptember Begins! Did the President Get it Right This Year?

From this year's proclamation:

"As a Nation, one of our highest responsibilities is to ensure the health and well-being of our children. With generous hearts and open minds, we strive to make sure all children grow up knowing they have a family that shares with them the warmth, security, and unconditional love that will help them succeed. And yet, more than 100,000 children in America await this most basic support, and still more children abroad live without families. During National Adoption Month, we celebrate the acts of compassion and love that unite children with adoptive families, and we rededicate ourselves to the essential task of providing all children with the comfort and safety of a permanent home.

The decision to adopt a child has brought profound joy and meaning into the lives of Americans across our country. Parents are moved to adopt for reasons as unique and varied as the children they embrace, but they are unified by the remarkable grace of their acts. Adoptive families come in all forms. With so many children waiting for loving homes, it is important to ensure that all qualified caregivers are given the opportunity to serve as adoptive parents, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or marital status.

My Administration remains steadfast in our support of adoptive families and children in need of homes. Earlier this year, I signed the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, which reauthorizes child welfare programs and makes new provisions to help reduce the amount of time young children are without permanent families. I also signed the Healthy, Hunger¬-Free Kids Act to provide balanced, nutritious meals to all children in the foster care system. Last year, during National Adoption Month, I signed the International Adoption Simplification Act, which removed unnecessary regulations and barriers to international adoption. These efforts come in addition to the Adoption Tax Credit, which was extended and expanded as part of the Affordable Care Act to make adoption more accessible to American families. Through these key pieces of legislation, my Administration is moving forward with our commitment to stand with youth in foster care and find new ways to encourage adoption.

Adoption has become a part of many Americans' lives and has contributed to the character of our Nation. As parents and as family members, it is our task to do all we can to give our children the very best. In caring for our youth and putting them before ourselves, we make a lasting investment not only in their future, but also in the prosperity and strength of our Nation in the years to come. This month and throughout the year, let us recommit to ensuring every child is given the sustaining love of family, the assurance of a permanent home, and the supportive upbringing they deserve."

I will say that I like that he mentioned the 100,000 children in the foster care system legally cleared for adoption.

However.

This is yet another proclamation polarized around adoptive parents and how wonderful they are for adopting.

1. Adoption makes a child an equal member of the family.  We are not charity projects.
2. Adoption is not about benefiting a family or parents who adopt: it is about giving a family to a child who is in need of one.
3. Poverty and a lack of permanence are issues in the world: adoption is not the only way, nor the best way, to solve these issues.
4. I see no mention of adult adoptees, fostered adults, or original parents.  Are we also not part of adoption?

Same rhetoric, different year.  Welcome to Adoptember, 2011 folks!

As I wrote a few days ago, I will be participating in Taking Back Adoptember by joining NaBloPoMo and posting about real issues in adoption every day in the month of November.  I am very (very) excited and honored to have some guest bloggers lined up that I think everyone will really like.