Most adoptive parents I know hate it when other people treat them like a hero, simply for becoming parents through adoption. We strongly dislike the implication that we “saved” our kids. That’s why a new advertisement designed to recruit foster parents in Detroit caught my attention.
My kids were adopted through foster care, so clearly I support foster parents. This campaign is meant to attract foster parents who are local, so that kids can stay close to the neighborhoods that they’re used to. I strongly support this idea as well, because it’s clearly in the kids’ best interest.
However, I take issue with the phrasing of the ad. It says, “I save neighborhood kids. I’m a foster parent.” The last thing adoptive and foster parents would ever say is that they “saved” anyone. In fact, many of us are more likely to say that our kids saved us. Have you seen this ad? What do you think?
