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In Defense of the Fatherless: Redeeming International Adoption and Orphan Care
Using their own experience in the adoption industry the authors ask the difficult questions. In Defense of the Fatherless will challenge you, inform you and bring you to a deeper understanding of the issues faced around international adoption.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 6, 2017
While I have no personal experience with adoption, I have often encountered the topic in Christian spheres. The reason this book interested me is because I had begun reading from various sources about how corrupt the international adoption process has become, but this was primarily on blogs and sometimes from sources that seemed antagonistic to Christianity, and so I wanted to read more about it from a Christian perspective.
The two authors of this book clearly have a heart for orphans and for the world's poor. Both have experience with international adoption -- one of them (Amanda) actually went through the process of adopting a sibling group from the Democratic Republic of Congo, only to walk away at the end after discovering that they had living parents and a family who did want them. This and other stories served as the impetus for these authors to investigate what has been going on in international adoption. What they found was not pretty.
We read statistics about the large number of orphans in the world, but what is often left out is that the word "orphan" can include children who have lost only one parent, and that the majority of orphans (even "true orphans") are living with family. Amanda and Sara show us in this book that orphanages (many built by Western Christians) often "create orphans" because they provide food and shelter for children that parents and caregivers in poverty are unable to provide for them.
To make a long story short, the gist of this book is that Christians are called to care for widows and orphans, but that building more orphanages is not the answer, because an institutional system often results in "finding children for families" (acquiring healthy babies and toddlers -- what most adoptive parents request -- sometimes through coercion or fraud) rather than finding families for children.
The authors certainly do not believe international adoption is always inappropriate, but urge us to focus more on "first families" -- empowering those in poverty to care for themselves and their children, rather than keeping children in institutions or taking them away to a Western country. Toward the end, they highlight some ministries in developing countries that are striving to empower people in this way.
One of the last sections, "The world needs more daddies," is especially poignant in pointing out that there is no amount of "aid," or programs, or empowerment that can turn the hearts of fathers to their children -- they believe the gospel of Jesus's love is powerful enough to do this, and urge this as the focus.
While the global nature of the stories and stats here sometimes felt overwhelming to read (and at times repetitive), I think this is an important book and certainly a must-read for any Christian considering international adoption. I appreciated its global and gospel perspective, and found it shared a few similarities with Toxic Charity in helping to shape the perspectives of those who wish to help the poor in developing countries -- urging people not to swoop in as "saviors" as a long-term solution, but to come alongside the poor and guard their dignity in the process. For one of these authors (Amanda), it meant leaving a comfortable life in America to move to Rwanda and physically work alongside those they wanted to help.
The two authors of this book clearly have a heart for orphans and for the world's poor. Both have experience with international adoption -- one of them (Amanda) actually went through the process of adopting a sibling group from the Democratic Republic of Congo, only to walk away at the end after discovering that they had living parents and a family who did want them. This and other stories served as the impetus for these authors to investigate what has been going on in international adoption. What they found was not pretty.
We read statistics about the large number of orphans in the world, but what is often left out is that the word "orphan" can include children who have lost only one parent, and that the majority of orphans (even "true orphans") are living with family. Amanda and Sara show us in this book that orphanages (many built by Western Christians) often "create orphans" because they provide food and shelter for children that parents and caregivers in poverty are unable to provide for them.
To make a long story short, the gist of this book is that Christians are called to care for widows and orphans, but that building more orphanages is not the answer, because an institutional system often results in "finding children for families" (acquiring healthy babies and toddlers -- what most adoptive parents request -- sometimes through coercion or fraud) rather than finding families for children.
The authors certainly do not believe international adoption is always inappropriate, but urge us to focus more on "first families" -- empowering those in poverty to care for themselves and their children, rather than keeping children in institutions or taking them away to a Western country. Toward the end, they highlight some ministries in developing countries that are striving to empower people in this way.
One of the last sections, "The world needs more daddies," is especially poignant in pointing out that there is no amount of "aid," or programs, or empowerment that can turn the hearts of fathers to their children -- they believe the gospel of Jesus's love is powerful enough to do this, and urge this as the focus.
While the global nature of the stories and stats here sometimes felt overwhelming to read (and at times repetitive), I think this is an important book and certainly a must-read for any Christian considering international adoption. I appreciated its global and gospel perspective, and found it shared a few similarities with Toxic Charity in helping to shape the perspectives of those who wish to help the poor in developing countries -- urging people not to swoop in as "saviors" as a long-term solution, but to come alongside the poor and guard their dignity in the process. For one of these authors (Amanda), it meant leaving a comfortable life in America to move to Rwanda and physically work alongside those they wanted to help.
September 18, 2017
Really great book. I'm surprised I didn't get around to reading it earlier since this type of book is right up my alley. Anyhow once I got into it, I was really thankful I did. It was a good refresher for me on some things that get covered in my line of work and other things that I've read. While at the same time, they shared some information that I wasn't aware of really. I think the biggest thing that stood out was their commentary and reporting considering international adoption. I have read, seen and lived the orphanage stuff, but I didn't have a whole lot of frame of reference for the international adoption piece. I always considered international adoption to be supplementary at best, but still a good thing. They really dug into the corruption of it all and how the demand for foreign children actually break apart families in the majority world. I feel like the book is worth the read just for that portion alone. I'm grateful that the authors don't hold back while at the same time approaching these sensitive subjects with tact and grace. I also really enjoyed the stories that they shared throughout. Definitely a good book and an important book within the orphan care sphere.
May 15, 2020
The content was overall good, though I may disagree with conclusions her and there. My main reason for less stars is that it could have been half as long and accomplished the same goal. It got repetitive quickly and the writing quality suffered as a result. I appreciate the holistic approach to caring for orphans and think it is sorely needed in the church today.
March 18, 2015
A courageous book: it takes guts to critique something such as international adoption, which many consider to be intrinsically good and beneficial for all involved. Luckily, Ms. Brinton and Ms. Bennett -- insiders, both -- have courage in spades, and offer clear-eyed, steady, and God-focused solutions that everyone from agencies to government workers to parents feeling the "heart tug" of international adoption should consider. Bravo.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews