Daily Fiber

What follows is the only mention of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that will ever appear here.

 So I was painting the trim on the second story windows on my birthday this week (pause) and my mind began to wander.  You may have heard that Brad Pitt has announced that he and Angelina Jolie will not be entering into legally recognized marriage until the institution is opened to all couples.  I can appreciate the intention behind his words, and know that such a statement by a celebrity does have the potential to influence public opinion. 

But here are my painting thoughts: Angelina Jolie adopted two children internationally who were recently adopted by Brad Pitt.  The couple has made known their plans to expand their family further by international adoption.  International adoption is not open to same-sex couples unless the members of the couple are willing to lie about their relationship to one another.  In order to adopt internationally, one member of the couple must portray themself as a single (in some situations, heterosexual) person.  Yes, there are countries other than the U.S. that allow adoption by same-sex couples, but these are not the countries that have established international adoption programs with agencies in the U.S.  For the sake of this argument I will say that international adoption is closed to same-sex couples.  Is there some disconnect when Brad Pitt states that he and Angelina will not be getting married until it is open to all couples, yet they both openly state their plans to continue adopting internationally–an option that is not open to all couples?

I know that many families with two moms and two dads have been formed by international adoption and I don’t want to stand in judgement of the choices made by those parents.  Sure, I don’t entirely agree with the policies that have been put in place, but we also need to keep in mind that this is not civil disobedience.  These parents can be setting themselves up for some difficult questions from their children in the years to come, questions about always telling the truth, being proud of who you are, and about people and nations with more or less privilege.  While the governmental policies of countries involved in international adoption may not make sense to me personally, I can’t help but feel my own social location as an imperialist American.  Children waiting for adoption, for the most part, will find homes and families, whether they are parented by a mom and a dad, a mom, a dad, or two moms or two dads.  It is the right of each country to decide the family structure for each child released to international adoption, they are their children.