Monday, July 25, 2005

Update on Bethany

Looks like Bethany in MS has changed their minds. Catholics ARE Christians. (I don't know about you, but I'm relieved.)

ADOPTION AGENCY CHANGES POLICY TO ACCEPT CATHOLIC APPLICANTS

Seriously, tho, do we really need these artificial impediments to keep qualified men and women from adopting children who sorely need loving homes? But don't get me started. I may start to question even more ...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We looked into Bethany before deciding to adopt from Korea. I spent two hours with their local rep--we seemed to be the ideal candidates (I'm a professor, and my husband is a business analyst; we're very active in our church; we own our own home; we have family five minutes away, etc.). The Bethany rep was very excited until the word "Catholic" was mentioned. They didn't say they wouldn't work with us outright, but I did hear: "Well, most of the girls who come to us are Baptist, and you might have to wait a long time--possibly two to three years--until someone selects you." Since Bethany works on a portfolio system, the scenario I was playing in my mind was that if a young woman looked at our portfolio, the staff might say: "Well, sure, they look like they would be good parents, but what isn't obvious from the portfolio is that they're...CATHOLIC." Now, maybe I was reading too much into my conversation with the Bethany rep, but since we were already 31 at the time, we decided not to waste any time with them and to pursue other options.

Roberta Rosenberg said...

No, I think you understood the "meta message" very well. (Again, being Jewish, they wouldn't have worked with me at all. Yet Catholic Charities in Baltimore, to my knowledge, works with all faiths, Christian and otherwise.)

Anonymous said...

One of our best friends is a rabbi, and after I told her this story about Bethany, she offered to send in a letter as a member of the clergy certifying that we were good Christians. ;)