Angelina Addicted to Adoption?
Submitted by Files on Thu, 2009-03-19 00:16.
5-Apr-2007
Written by: Ann Walsh
Is Angelina using children for publicity?
First, before any attacks, let me start by saying I AM ADOPTED - so back off!
Angelina has been adopting children as if she's rescuing pets from the local shelter. I make this comparison because, as you can see, as soon as the dust settles on one, she's off to the next to keep her face on the cover. But how can she possibly be devoting attention to all of them? Has anyone seen a picture EVER of her holding her daugher, Shiloh? The real problem I have, however, is that Angelina Jolie is capable of having children. Adopting is for people who cannot. In her recent "mission to adopt" a child, Pax, you will note from all reports, including officials in Vietnam, Angelina was put ahead of the list, things were rushed through, and there is a shortage of children who can be adopted from Vietnam - more applicants than children. Based on this ratio, and we know that most people applying are those who cannot have children of their own - Angelina showed a gross disregard for those people who have followed the process, filed the paperwork and are waiting. These people CANNOT have children like Angelina, yet she finds it okay to push them all aside and use her celebrity power and money to bypass them all? For whose good? The child's - the child that will forever live with cameras in his face? It's hard enough to be an adopted child, let alone followed by paparazzi 24/7. Yes, these children will be afforded the best travels, the best food, the best clothes and the best schools. But, will they get the best attention and love when their "mother" is traveling the world to keep her face in the paper? This same mother, who is divorced from her husband and wore his blood in a vial around her neck? Let's look at the other families waiting to adopt - they have all been screened, really want a child and would not pawn them off to nannies. They would be the ones providing loving arms and laughs. Not nannies. So, I ask everyone, why are we glorifying this woman for adopting children? Why is the media making her out to be a humanitarian for her efforts? I personally feel for the people who are still waiting and could have had "Pax" as their child, but now have to wait another year or two. I say enough. Angelina, stop already and if you truly care for the children, help pay the cost for others who cannot afford to adopt to become parents. You can have children; there are too many who can't and shouldn't be pushed aside for your own gain.
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Interests and Celebrities
Personally, I have more issues with celebrities adopting from countries heavily involved in child trafficking/illegal adoptions than I have with rich people having kids and sending those kids to live with nannies or in expensive boarding schools. (After all, I tend to believe all actions bring their own natural consequences and one does not have to be adopted by a wealthy person to experience The Abandoned Baby Syndrome.) It concerns me that modern-day adopting celebrities draw media attention to one set of "orphan issues", whilst blatantly ignoring the bigger issues behind the corrupt scams and politics within the child placement industry. It bothers me celebrities showcase their children like props for more photo-ops. [Don't people know even young adoptees are very good at faking smiles and masking feelings?] And last but not least, I believe showcasing a child and "mission" does not give an honest look at life touched by international adoption. All that being noted, I tend to think many modern-day-celebrities are so focused on image and so removed from "normal-living", it's almost stupid to think tabloid fodder makes for good role-model example. Quite frankly, I often shake my head to those who think certain celebrity actions ought to be followed.
[Truth be told, I don't know who bugs me more... Angelina or Madonna... both seem really addicted to publicity, a trait that doesn't really impress me... but hey, that's my own personal opinion. All I know is our abused adoptee pages show people there are far worse fates an adoptee can face... with or without the media interest and flashing cameras.]
Perhaps one day little children adopted by the likes of Angelina and Madonna will one day ask to visit their home-land... perhaps they might learn about the stories of stolen children and the hidden interest within the international adoption industry... perhaps those celebrity-children will ask their adoptive parents, "What did you do to help poor single-parents keep their children?", "What happens to all those kids in the orphanages... the ones that don't get adopted by wealthy people?", "Does America have orphanages and poor abandoned children, too?"
As an adult adoptee, I know those are the sort of questions I would like to have answered by an American celebrity looking to extend his/her 15 minutes of international fame.