Did Pearl S. Buck do good things for adoption or did she have a negative influence on adoption?
ByI know very little about her but I found a quote of hers that I like. I won’t use it until I know what her part in adoption was though. Any information will be appreciated.
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4 Comments
April 25th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
She invented the derogatory term “birth mother” (1955) to portray a mother separated from her child by adoption as being nothing more significant/important than being a “birth-provider”. This term was later taking up in the early 1970s by social workers such as Sorosky et al. and Marietta Spencer’s “Positive Adoption Language” campaign and made an official part of that campaign (along with begettor, gene donor, genetic parent, etc.) to denote that the mother is no longer a mother after the birth (in PAL, the adoptive parents are denoted as being the only “mother and father,” making the natural mother a “non-mother”).
If a person has lost a baby to adoption, Pearl Buck is not a hero.
April 25th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Pearl S. Buck was an adoptive mother.
She started an agency —>http://www.psbi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=WH_Welcome_House_Adoption_Program
“Pearl S. Buck’s early childhood experiences in China taught her a great deal about how swiftly those years can pass. They also taught her the cruelty and harshness that unwanted children face not only in China but in much of the world. In 1949, outraged that existing adoption services considered mixed-race children unadoptable, Pearl S. Buck established Welcome House®, the first international, inter-racial adoption agency. The adoptive parent of seven children, Pearl Buck’s unique understanding for the kind of life minorities in China experienced, helped form the mission for this first-of-its-kind organization. Welcome House® expanded its charter in 1956 to include worldwide adoption services for children whose families or communities were unable to care for them. In 1991, Welcome House® came under the umbrella of Pearl S. Buck International and it remains one of PSBI’s most inspiring and effective programs. Learn more about Welcome House®”
“In 1949, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author and humanitarian, Pearl S. Buck created the Welcome House Adoption Program. Her goal was to develop an agency that would find adoptive families for bi-racial children that were considered unadoptable because of their ethnic status. As an adoptive mother herself, she knew that the bond between a child and their parents transcended bloodlines. In 1956, Welcome House® expanded its charter to find families for children living in any country. Ms. Buck’s pioneering vision of global understanding among people and her belief that all children are entitled to the love and security of a family of their own is still alive today. We carry on that vision by uniting children with permanent loving families, providing education throughout the adoption process, and offering a commitment of lifelong support for adoptees and their families. Now, one of the oldest and most respected adoption programs in the world, Welcome House® has found loving families for more than 7,000 children. We specialize in the unique needs of multi-cultural families and encourage families to celebrate their child’s birth culture.”
- from the website
I would suggest looking at the site and deciding for yourself if her philosophy matches yours and if you feel her vision is being carried out.
I would also suggest reading some of her works. She was a talented writer – I would get them from the library though.
Wiki has a complete list of her books and stories:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Buck#Novels
April 25th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
I do not know what people think about her role in adoption, but she did do a tremendous amount for the welfare of Asian’s “unwanted” children.
“Buck was an extremely passionate activist for human rights. In 1949, outraged that existing adoption services considered Asian and mixed-race children unadoptable, Pearl established Welcome House, Inc., the first international, interracial adoption agency. In the nearly five decades of its work, Welcome House has assisted in the placement of more than five thousand children. In 1964, to provide support for Asian-American children who were not eligible for adoption, Buck also established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, which provides sponsorship funding for thousands of children in half a dozen Asian countries. When establishing the Opportunity House Foundation to support child sponsorship programs in Asia, Buck said, “The purpose…is to publicize and eliminate injustices and prejudices suffered by children, who, because of their birth, are not permitted to enjoy the educational, social, economic and civil privileges normally accorded to children.”
April 25th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Hi Cakitcat,
I’ll be watching to see which quote it is you saw.
Whether or not Pearl did “good things for adoption” depends on whether or not you believe adoption is generally the best solution for children in need. There are different views on how children are best “helped.” In my opinion, ALL children deserve to belong with their own families and cultures whenever possible. It is possible & preferable to “help” Asian countries without separating family members or mass exportation of their children. If children are being discriminated against, it’s not for lack of being adopted to a foreign county. It would be for failure to receive help to strive where they are. Likewise, adoption of Caucasian children is not always the best way to help them either.
Did she have good intentions? I believe she did. I agree that all children should be loved and cared for despite their race. I do not agree that all children in need should be adopted. In fairness to her, little was known at that time about the impact that adoption can have on people. It is easier to see in hindsight that people are better helped by making their communities and families stronger and more self-sufficient, rather than dependent upon foreign adoptions. Increasing the quantity of children exported to childless people in Western countries is not my idea of humanitarian work no matter what race the children are. True humanitarian work includes teaching skills, providing vital services such as health care and education, & working for political change to better meet goals of serving children locally.
She operated on assumptions such as adoption is always good and that the only way to help children is by adopting them & sending them far away from their homelands. That does nothing to attack the root of the problems. That does nothing to help Asia or to help poor families or to improve the standard of living for the ones left behind. That’s why the same problems continue there, year after year. Throw in there her phrase “birthmother,” and I believe she has done more harm to families over the years than good. Thanks for asking, and do check out MamaKate’s links.
julie j
reunited adoptee