Adopted Not Aborted
The year was 1954. Dr. Jandali, professor at the University of Wisconsin, and student Joanne Schieble found themselves in a tough predicament. The two had been having extra “tutoring” sessions outside of class when Joanne and her professor realized the unthinkable: they were pregnant!
Joanne’s parents strongly objected to the relationship. So from the beginning things were not off to a good start. And now a baby!?
They decided their best option was to give it up for adoption. So in the days following February 24, 1955, relatively uneducated Paul and Clara became the proud parents of a precious little boy.
Now Paul was a hard working mechanic and carpenter and Clara was an accomplished accountant, a far cry from the academic circles of Steve’s biological parents. But together, they taught their young son all they knew. Paul taught Steve rudimentary electronics in the family garage where he would take apart and reassemble radios and televisions and the like. And Clara taught Steve how to read before he even attended school. Both were skills that would prove valuable.
Today, as then, many expectant parents find themselves in a similar predicament: a wild fling, young puppy love, recreational sex, and the “unwanted” consequences of their reckless choices.
Personal pleasure sought over the interests of others.
People haven’t changed all that much, but the times have.
Today those same couples have another option to consider. In 1973 the Supreme Court made abortion a legal alternative. In the wisdom of their own eyes, they paved the way for “doctors” like Kermit Gosnell.
- Doctors who for a small fee will dispose of a woman’s “inconvenient abdominal growth.”
- Doctors who will deliver her helpless newborn directly from the birthing bed to his deathbed with the aid of a small scissors.
- Doctors who will advise untrained medical assistants to overly sedate a patient, leading not only to her baby’s premature death, but also her own.
It is grotesque. Unmentionable. Abhorrent.
In light of the unspeakable horrors of this legalized murder, I’m thankful Dr. Jandali and Joanne chose to give their child an opportunity at life through adoption.
I am thankful for adoptive parents like Paul and Clara Jobs who brought to the world a man named Steve Jobs.
He challenged the world to think differently. His creative genius has affected everything from how cars are made to how you work out. He created jobs, and inspired us with his imagination.
Adopted not aborted.
I wonder what might happen if the Christian community were to band together to help mothers considering abortion. What if we were to offer adoption over abortion, to give her child a fighting chance at making the world a better place?
These are the thoughts percolating in my mind as I write this post. What does your church or community do for these moms? What would you like to see your church do?
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
James 1:27
6 Comments
TAO · May 16, 2013 at 8:45 am
No, they didn’t have the option of a “legal abortion” but they certainly had access to “abortion”. Many chose that route in that era, and the era’s before.
Brian · May 16, 2013 at 11:40 am
Good point and well taken. Probably careless wording on my part. I’m just thankful that access to it was restricted back then. Thanks for your response!
TAO · May 16, 2013 at 12:29 pm
I’m not glad that women died needlessly. My dad had to help save their lives afterwards. Not nice.
I am also very tired of the continual assumption that women who placed a child first considered abortion – not so – you have way to validate that statement. That leads to a lifetime for the adoptee to be told to be grateful they weren’t aborted. No one says that to one raised in their family of birth. You linked the two together in your post rather than choose to focus on another famous person – why? It is the myth you believe – a common stereotype.
Not trying to pick on you but it gets old – I was so saddened by what was done in the days following Steve Jobs death – the tweets and comments about this were terrible. Adoptees are just regular human beings – just like you. We deserve not to be the poster children for a cause unrelated to us – just because we are adopted. I hope you take this in the spirit intended.
Brian · May 16, 2013 at 2:03 pm
You asked, “Do I believe the common myth, or assumption, that women who placed a child [up for adoption] first considered abortion?”
No. I do not believe that every woman who places their child up for adoption first considered abortion.
Thank you for asking because it encouraged me to go back and revise what I had written to better reflect what I believe. I was not as clear as I could have been.
It was not my intention to convey that Jobs’ biological parents would have elected abortion had it been legal or more widely available in 1954. I do not know this and would never have been able to validated it.
What I am saying, though, is that with the legalization of abortion through Roe vs. Wade, more women have chosen to terminate their pregnancies since 1973 than prior to 1973. And this has come at a high cost.
Every child has a right to life and that life begins at the moment of conception. I see adoption as a better alternative to abortion and wanted to stimulate my readers to consider how they could be a part of the solution.
I hope this clarifies some things. My apologies for not being more precise with my wording on the initial post. Take a look at my revisions.
TAO · May 16, 2013 at 3:47 pm
I agree the post is much better, and I appreciate that you are willing to hear and see other points of view. I still believe you should not use adoptees as poster children for the pro-life cause.
Personally – I believe you would be better served to see why women feel they have no other option but to abort. Is it because the US has no maternity leave? Job security? Look to Canada to see how much value is placed on being a mother (and father because they can use the parental leave portion as well) which is part of the unemployment insurance government program. They have what used to be called baby bonus stipend, small amount but every bit helps. Look at what is stopping women from parenting in the US.
Choosing to place your baby for adoption holds life-long grief, unbelieveable, pain. It should not be the first option offered – parenting should – along with a way to get through the pregnancy, and first year financially with job security. It creates a successful base, and time to prepare and find daycare solution for your return to work. Parenting should be the option provided to pregnant women – not adoption – adoption is the last result. Adoption is hard, openness isn’t the answer because adoptive parents break promises and there is no recourse. Learn from those who actually walk the path before you casually throw it out there as the go-to solution.
Being an adoptee is also hard, it is a life-long challenge – some do okay, and others survive, and everything inbetween. Google the seven core issues for adoptees. It isn’t a win-win because in order to be adopted, you first had to lose your entire family, forever. Legally in most states you have no right to even access your originally birth certificate to know who you were born to be – the adoption industry blocks legislation – slowly but surely the fight state by state by adult adoptees and allies are turning the tide but it has been going on for 30 years. The right as an adult citizen to know who you were born to be – think about that. Even open adoption adult adoptees are denied the right to access the only true factual record of their birth – while you can order one on line for a small fee…
I could go on and on…
Next time you do a post pick a non-adoptee to write about 🙂 when you connect it with abortion…
I am pro-choice but in that I mean REAL choices (before and after conception) – not the only “choice” someone has – which is no choice at all – and for some that is abortion because they can’t survive financially being pregnant, let alone parenting. It is easy to forget sometimes how little true choice some really have – we need to remove our own privileged lives, and see it what it really is like to live below the poverty line. Step outside of the box and see how to make it better for those will few REAL choices…
Thanks for listening…
Christopher · June 1, 2013 at 10:02 pm
Asking good questions bro!