Adoption Is Everywhere

by Joshua DuBois

I remember when we first started working on adoption issues in the White House. I was head of President Obama’s faith-based initiative, and my friend and colleague, Michael Wear, had the idea of hosting major events for National Adoption Month. We would put the word out for White House and Administration staff whose lives had been touched by adoption to join us for these events, not knowing what the response would be. But we soon learned that in the seat of our nation’s government, adoption was everywhere.

There was the senior staffer in the First Lady’s office who was an adoptive mother herself. There was the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture who was an adoptee, and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency who was also adopted. In every corner of our government—from junior staffers to the folks running the place—people’s lives had been touched and blessed by adoption. But they had never been called together before, never given the opportunity to publicly say how important adoption was to them.

This is the case for thousands upon thousands of people around the country. From small towns to big cities, factories to corporate boardrooms, adoption is everywhere. But too often we hide its import in so many lives. I am so excited that in this National Adoption Month, we have the opportunity to “uncover” the role that adoption, adoptive families and adoptees themselves play in our communities, and spread the word unashamed.

And around the country, people are doing just that. Recently, on November 3rd, churches across North America put the spotlight on adoption with Orphan Sunday sermons and activities in hundreds of congregations. Social enterprises like Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee are supporting adoption with their products, partnering with everyday families to “drink coffee. do good” in the name of orphan care and adoption. Nonprofits Bethany Christian Services and the Adoption Journey campaign (www.adoptionjourney.org) are giving prospective adoptive families new resources to help them navigate the adoption process. And Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has introduced landmark, bipartisan legislation, the Children in Families First Act to ensure that more children around the world will have a loving family to call their own.

We’re not there yet, but our country and our culture is slowly waking up to the fact that adoption is one of our greatest national assets. It binds people together, creating communities of love wherever it reaches. This National Adoption Month, let’s recognize that Adoption is truly everywhere. And when we find places it hasn’t reached yet, let’s all be ambassadors for adoption and spread the word!

Joshua DuBois is the author of the bestselling book The President's Devotional: The Daily Readings that Inspired President Obama. Joshua led the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in Obama's first term and was called the President's "Pastor-in-Chief" by TIME magazine. Joshua now leads a consulting firm, Values Partnerships, that creates faith-based partnerships for the public, private and non-profit sector, and he is the weekly religion and values columnist for The Daily Beast.

Editor’s note: This article posted as part of a partnership with Adoption Journey

Image by: Parker Knight.

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