Why is it that most adoptees are from christian based families and not of the Jewish faith?

Question

Is it because kids that are of the few Jewish faith that become orphans are taken care of relatives and are supported by their community instead of strangers? Is it because struggling Jewish teen moms get support from their families and their community?

Is it because their religion focuses on keeping families together without judgment? Is it that they address teen sexual issues realistically (no abstinence or purity ring fantasy)?

I don't know one person that is Jewish and has placed their child. I'm sure there is but its almost unheard of. The only Jewish people I know that are involved with adoption are the infertile couples or owners of agency's making money.

Do you think something could be learned from them and applied to Christianity to help more mothers keep their children? It appears that Christianity is failing families.

Answer 1

The infant adoption industry is dominated by Christians intent upon christianizing all adoptees.

They even receive government funding for their endeavours - a clear breach of separation of church and State.  Sigh.

Answer 2

Most Jewish children are taken care of by the extended Jewish family. If my parents had been in contact with their parents when they died (suicide attack, 1989) I would have gone to live with the grandparents. Instead I was sent to a girls' home and put up for adoption. There are very few orphans or abandoned children in Israel because first, the state allows free abortions, and second, most people don't think that more money or more degrees necessarily means better parents. Also, the state of Israel does not allow international adoptions.

What you're saying may be true of non-Orthodox Jews, (the keeping families together w/o judgment, addressing teen s*x) but in the Orthodox community it's EXTREMELY looked down upon if a teenager gets pregnant. There are many taboo subjects and that is just one of them.

ETA: when Jewish parents adopt gentile children, more often than not the children are converted to Judaism (this is allowed) and are as Jewish as any other Jew.

And what you're saying, is simply not true. If I had gotten pregnant, I have no doubt that my parents would have encouraged me to either have an abortion or to give the baby up as the baby would have the status of a mamzer if the father could not be determined.

Answer 3

I am a social worker for Children's Services. I had never really thought about it before but there doesn't seem to be a huge number of families that we work with or have to remove the children that are of Jewish faith. However, I don't think it's fair to say Christianity is failing people. Christianity is the predominant religion in the United States so it makes sense that when considering a percentage of any population, there will be more Christians just because there are more Christians in the United States. Drugs and alcohol are by far the number one underlying cause of situations that lead to parents permanently losing custody of their children, who are then placed for adoption.  My experience has been that people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol often have no religion in their lives, or have lost faith in their religion. Some identify themselves as Christian (or any other religion) and believe in God but don't have a relationship with God. Addicts are usually broken people who have lost their faith in everything, religion and spirituality included. It does seem that the Jewish community is known for having close bonds with their families and maybe their is more support. However if you research the subject, there are huge amounts of children in this country being raised by their extended families no matter what religion the family is. I can definitely tell you that teen pregnancy rarely has anything to do with parents permanently losing custody to their children. It is almost always drug or alcohol addiction or at least addiction that leads to other behaviors and problems. It is a horrible cycle where people who are abused or neglected as children often (not always) grow up and have children and end up abusing or neglecting their children, just because that's the life they know. Also, I'm not sure if you mean children who are being adopted out (permanently taken away from their parents or parents permanently surrendering children) or adoptive parents who choose to adopt other people's children.

There are also a smaller amount of Jewish adoptive parents out there, NOT because there's anything wrong with them, again just because of less people being Jewish vs. Christian in this country. But anyway if you follow your argument, you could say that Christians are more likely to be kind enough to adopt children who need homes, when in reality it may just be because more people are Christian than Jewish in the US.

Answer 4

I know two 'Jewish' girls who were adopted.  But they were really shiksas adopted by Jews.

This book http://www.paulabernstein.com/book/index... came out last year written by two Jewish girls (twins) separated and adopted into different families.  They found out their nmother was schizophrenic.

My personal belief is that Jewish girls tend to be more urbane and sophisticated, and don't get themselves knocked up as often as "Chirstian" girls.

ETA: rs: Melissa Gilbert is a Gentile adopted by Jews.  But I thought of a Jewish first mother--Roseanne Barr.

Answer 5

the Jewish community has their own adoption agency which just like that Catholics, offer an almost free adoption for people of the Jewish faith and they very much want all Jewish children raised by Jewish families

umh,  I can't think of one unwed teen Jewish mom.... I did grow up with 3 kids from 2 different families that were Jewish and adopted

and isn't Melissa Gilbert adopted and Jewish?

Answer 6

You ask some good questions. I agree with some of the other answers that there are many more "Christians" in the world than there are Jews. Which would account for the majority of the difference. However, Jewish people often have more of a community mentality than most Christians do. They take care of their own and hold each other accountable by certain standards of social behavior. This is not unlike many other religious or ethnic groups.

I believe that "Christianity" is too broad a spectrum to blame it specifically for family failures. I think the failure is on the part of the majority of churches to teach truth and hold it's members accountable. It is unfortunately true that most "christians" in America (and probably world-wide as well) are not holding true to the family values taught in the Bible. Most churches now days are more into socializing and having feel-good meetings than they are into teaching spiritual and moral truths and family values. If Christians followed the Bible's standards, there wouldn't be anywhere near the family social issues, such as teen pregnancy.

I think you have recognized a great quality in the Jewish community. They, as a people, have faced horrors we know little of and have a keen sense of self preservation and the value of community and family. We could all learn from the example they set.

Answer 7

I think it has more to do with numbers: The number of Jewish people as a percentage of Americans, the number of children Jewish women have in relation to Christian women.

This adoption agency has some interesting information on their website: http://jcan.qwestoffice.net/

I think it's a mistake to base opinions of adoption on religion.

Answer 8

Well, I don't know any Christian person that has placed their child.

But then I've never met anyone who's Jewish.

Maybe there are not enough Jewish people wanting to adopt?

Answer 9

1/3 of the Jewish population was annihilated. They view the continuation of their race/religion seriously. My dear friend would never marry a gentile for this very reason.

These are apples and oranges. No comparison.

  

Answer 10

wait i am jewish and my son is adopted