Don't let 'Orphan' give the wrong idea about foster kids, warn adoption advocates

BY Rosemary Black
NY Daily News
Jul. 25, 2009

They know god damn well what they are doing, it is anti-adoption propaganda hidden behind an extremely thin veil of being a "movie." They're implanting fear and doubt in the viewers mind, it is no different than some deodorant commercial where the male character is rejected by women due to his lack of deodorant and then as soon as he puts it on he is swarmed by them, the whole idea is just to implant the "maybe" in peoples minds, they know most people can see right through it but if they can get them to think "maybe, just maybe there is some truth to it" then they have already won. - Chris, IL"The real horror is that we have more than 129,000 legal orphans in the foster care system whose birth parents' rights have been terminated due to abuse and neglect,” says Kelly Rosati. (Sadulayev/AP)

The eery central character in "Orphan," a horror movie that opens tomorrow, is an outwardly cherubic 9-year-old girl who turns out to be quite disturbed and shatters her adoptive parents’ dream of a wonderful family life together.

Adoption groups, unhappy with what they feel is an unrealistic portrayal of foster kids waiting for a permanent home, say the film could ultimately make it less likely that some real-life orphans will be adopted.

"The real horror is that we have more than 129,000 legal orphans in the foster care system whose birth parents' rights have been terminated due to abuse and neglect,” says Kelly Rosati, senior director of a group called Sanctity of Human Life and the mother of four kids adopted from the foster care system. “These children wait and wait, and often society forgets about them."

Older kids, sibling groups, and children of color and with special needs kids all more difficult to place than infants and toddlers. Prospective adoptive parents worry that the years of getting bounced around (typically a foster kid lives in five homes before getting adopted) cause such severe psychological problems that they can be almost untreatable.

"The kids have been emotionally and sometimes physically wounded," Rosati says. "And, sure, there are challenges associated with raising them but they absolutely can heal and have incredibly great lives with their families."

“Orphan” has sparked a 4,000-member Facebook group called "I Am Boycotting Warner Bros. 'Orphan' Movie" and some adoptive groups have written to asking Warner Bros. express their concerns with what they say is negative stereotyping of orphans.

Already Warner Bros. has deleted the trailer voice-over that sparked a lot of outrage from adoptive parents: "It must be difficult to love an adopted child as much as your own."

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute is encouraging Warner Bros., when it releases the DVD, “to increase awareness on the need to recruit families for children waiting to be adopted,” says executive director Kathleen Strottman.

She feels that "Orphan" could convince viewers that adopting an older child is a bad idea. "We are concerned that the movie and the trailer takes advantage of the public misconceptions that we know exist about youths waiting to be adopted out of foster care," she says. "Studies show that 82 percent of Americans would consider adopting. But this movie could make them feel that older kids could have more emotional issues or not be able to bond."

Terry Baugh, president of Kidsave, which works to find homes for kids in the foster care system, also contacted Warner Bros. to express concern about negative stereotyping.

"We are hoping that Warner Bros. will help in some proactive way so that older foster kids would be able to find permanent homes," she says. “It’s important to create global change so that every child grows up in a family."

The average age of a child in foster care is eight, notes Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Typically the chance of getting adopted drop off as kids grows older.

With loving adoptive parents who work to establish trust, and with counseling, adopted kids and teens can thrive, says Soronen.

"These kids have experienced everything from grief to loss, but they are certainly not dangerous or damaged," she says. "So we are just saying, be careful of stereotypes."