Adoption: Why say Mom and Dad?

And I would lay awake at night worrying about that. :rolleyes:

An adoption is exactly, precisely, and identically as much a legal and family tie as a marriage is. If you don’t accept adoptions, you should refuse to accept marriages to exactly the same degree, and if you accept marriages to any degree, then you should extent adoptions the same courtesy. Assuming you prefer not to be logically incoherent, anyway.

ETA: and connections to married partners are consistently as strong or stronger than those to blood relatives, in America and many first world countries. If they weren’t, nobody would ever leave home.

And other people’s family ties require your acknowledgment because… ?

And emotionally, adoption is probably even a stronger tie. As the OP pointed out, people get divorced, but adopted children don’t seem to get disowned too often.

Plus adoption is most often a consciously planned and prepared action. Natural pregnancy can happen by accident.

People don’t generally adopt unless they want it to happen, but lots of people get pregnant without wanting to.

“Generally”? :dubious:
“Man, what a hangover! What did I do last night - wait, where’d this kid with the sheaf full of adoption papers pinned to his back come from??”

Uh, hello? haven’t you read the OP? ONE fortune telling PSYCHO client is about to disown her child! Does that mean nothing?! NOTHING?!

Thing is, if you’re a vegetarian it’s up to you to ascertain whether there is any meat in the food at any event you attend. Same if you’re a Jew/Muslim, it’s on you to ask, “Is there pork in this?”

It’s not the for the host to label it “contains pork, made by the unclean hands of an adulteress, adoptee, etc.”

So, if you or your ilk, feel it’s necessary to know bloodlines and cleanliness of people who may be divorced and remarried, of mixed race, illegitimate, epileptic, then it’s on you to make whatever inquiries are required to satisfy your judgmental selves.

Have at it. Who’s standing in your way? (I would love to be a fly on that wall !)

But if you want this society to label everyone clearly so y’all can stigmatize, judge and disdain, well I’m thinking you’re out of luck there, Gypsy (not so) Wise Woman.

And another thing knowing that a child is adopted tells me about their family and the values and tradiations of their value. If nothing else, it’s a signal there are different from mine, and I can more understand behavior that I consider bizarre or rude may simply be a relection of that difference.

Well, if you were hoping to sell me something or enter into a business deal you might.

I think you can safely assume that most peoples’ values are different than yours.

I phrased it that way on purpose - because cherry-picking of nasty rare exceptions is kind of a theme in this thread.

I’m sure there are people who adopt out of some sort of obligation (for example if their brother and sister-in-law both die in an accident, leaving young children), and It’s also possible, I suppose, that there are a few nutcases out there who somehow end up managing to adopt for all kinds of weird and inappropriate motives.

Point is - generally*, pregnancy is easy to make happen, adoption is difficult, requiring by default the kind of commitment and deliberation that we might hope to be common, but is not universally required to initiate pregnancy

*(generally - that word again - meaning what it says and acknowledging exceptions. My apologies if that seemed glib to anyone who hasn’t found pregnancy easy to make happen)

If people want to practice it that’s their business, but I don’t wish to be involved in it.

People get divorced is the reason ties to blood relatives are stronger.

If you haven’t adopted anyone, you’re not. See how easy that was?

Hey, that’s great. What does it have to do with calling people “mom” and “dad”, though?

I’d really like an answer to this earnest question, if you would be so kind, ZPG - because it sounds like maybe you are basing some of your arguments on some kind of entity that maintains and operates a family link or ‘blood tie’ independently of the actions and motives of the individuals involved.

So quit sidestepping the question.

Why would you leave the welcome backwardness of eastern Europe, where these views are indeed widespread, to come to the sunny shores of America, if it means that much to you, that you be able to ascertain who is ‘unclean’?

Please, do tell.

So adoption is bizarre or rude behavior? On whose part? And who is decider here to make that presumption of one person by another?

Some people believe that gypsies are shiftless and untrustworthy. If they knew they were dealing with a gypsy, that might make them feel uncomfortable, particularly if they discovered that the gypsy hadn’t been up front about his status and announced it right from the beginning. Out of respect for the feelings of people who are prejudiced against gypsies, I think it’s really important that gypsies always announce their ethnic heritage whenever they meet someone new:

“Hello, I’m Mrs. Phipps, your daughter’s 4th grade teacher.”

“What a pleasure to meet you. You do know we’re gypsies, don’t you?”

“Um … no … I didn’t know that.”

“I just wanted to be honest with you, in case your traditions require you to treat her differently. I didn’t want you to think I was lying to you about her status.”

“Um … thanks … I guess … .”