BraveLove is dedicated to erasing the stigmas surrounding adoption, and it begins with mindfully changing the words we use to talk about it.
Choosing adoption is not about giving up. A birth mother doesn’t “give up” or “put up” her child for adoption. She makes an adoption plan and places her child in a loving home. Do you see the difference?
In the nineteenth century, orphan children were transported westward from the overcrowded cities of the eastern United States. The term “put up” was coined to describe the process in which these children would step up onto a platform and wait to be selected by a family for adoption.
The adoption process today is nothing like it was two hundred years ago – why should the language be?
Will you join with us and pledge to say "place" by signing your name? Your pledge means the following:
- I will no longer say "give up" or "put up for adoption.”
- I better understand the purpose, planning, and love behind a birth mother’s decision to choose adoption.
- Today I pledge to say “place.”
Have you already pledged? Take a moment to spread the word to your friends by posting this graphic on your social media of choice and link to bravelove.org/sayplace
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When speaking about more open adoptions in the current era I will definitely change to the current, more acceptable language of adoption. I hope you all understand where I’m coming from.