The Paula Zahn controversy

Over the weekend, I read several angry responses to CNN's Paula Zahn Now show on Friday, January 5th, which did a story about China tightening their foreign adoption regulations. Because I read so many unhappy posts about the show, I decided to check out the transcript for myself. Here is a link to it.

According to viewers of the show who have either adopted or are planning to adopt from China, the overwhelming majority felt that a very real and valid story about the new regulations, which could disqualify as many as 40% of potential adoptive parents, turned into a racist debate that asked, "Why don't Americans adopt more African American children?" and stated, "Americans adopt from China because they believe the children will be smarter."

Did the exchange bother me? Not much. Maybe it should have, but quite honestly, the entire reason for having a panel discussion on talk shows is to generate controversy, right? I mean, if they were presenting the story as fact, there would be little reason to ask others for their opinion. Instead of having the panel comment on all of the restrictions, such as minimum length of marriage or income or net worth requirements, CNN chose to focus on the ones that are visible (weight restrictions, discussed by a panelist who writes about weight discrimination) and then turn the discussion to race. In all fairness, CNN has apparently been doing a whole series of stories on race. They did, however, miss the boat on several facts about international adoption that were stated during the program.

We chose China for a number of reasons very important to us...primarily the reputation, fairness, and integrity of its program and the overall health of the children. We considered almost every other country that offers international adoption to the US, including some for which we did not qualify based on their requirements, and some that were not interested in for logistical reasons, including an unknown length of travel or even multiple trips, or health risks that are common for adopted children from that country.

I guess the international adoption community responded back in a very loud and concentrated effort. Letters were sent to CNN and all of the advertisers. Supposedly, there will be a follow-up to the story on tonight's episode. Let's just hope they discuss the real issues with a panel of experts on Chinese adoptions this time.