“Providing For Your Own”

Thursday, September 20, 2018

(This question is in response to “Embryo Adoption”)

You stated that, "The Bible is very pro-adoption."

Does the Bible support adopting a child that has living biological parents (those that have offered the child for adoption)?

1 Tim 5:8 demonstrates the responsibility parents have to take care of their own children, and adopting these children could place a legal barrier between those parents and their responsibility to take care of their offspring.  Please advise.

Sincerely,
Family Ties

Dear Family Ties,

There are two sides to an adoption story, the birthparents whose rights are terminated (either voluntarily, involuntarily, or through death) and the adoptive parents that take the child as their own.  We have to deal with both groups separately.

First let’s deal with the adoptive parents.  The Bible teaches that when christians are adopted by God, they receive full rights as His children (Rom 8:15-17).  Using this principle, when a family adopts a child, they become responsible for all of that child’s needs just as if the child was biologically born to them.  Therefore, the commands given to parents and children in places like 1 Tim 5:8 and Eph 6:1-4 would apply just as firmly to an adoption situation.

Now, let’s address what the Bible says about birthparents who place their biological children for adoption.  The Bible makes it clear that parents do have a responsibility for their children, and when we said that the Bible is “pro-adoption”, we were saying that the Bible condones adopting children who are in need of families.  We were not saying that the Bible condones someone turning their back on their parental responsibilities.  The Bible has a lot to say about caring for our children, and in most circumstances, it would be the wrong thing for a christian to place their child for adoption.  The only times in the entire Bible that we ever read of faithful people doing this is when Hannah gave Samuel to be raised by the priest Eli (1 Sam 1:24-28) and when Moses’ parents sent him down the river to save his life (Ex 2:3)… and it is safe to say that both circumstances were extraordinary.

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