and now, a poll

[kindkit]

Following on from my previous post, because now I'm beginning to wonder if what I think is my culture's view of adoption and birth mothers is not actually the case. The poll is as anonymous as I can make it, and anonymous comments are allowed.

Poll #18972

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 27

When a woman places her child up for adoption rather than raising the child herself, how is that predominantly viewed in your culture (not necessarily by you)?

Good! This is an excellent thing to do if she felt unable to raise the child herself.
11 (40.7%)

Neutral, neither good nor bad.
6 (22.2%)

Bad. She should have raised the child.
3 (11.1%)

Adoption is extremely rare or nonexistent in my culture.
2 (7.4%)

Other, which I may choose to elaborate on in the comments.
5 (18.5%)

Comments

[st_aurafina]

It's really difficult to adopt a child in Australia - there's lots of fostering situations and discussions about open adoptions, and there's a sense that it's very sad that a mother couldn't raise her own child. And we have the Stolen Generation behind us, where Indigenous children were taken away from their families to be raised by white families. We have income support for single mothers here, and while it gets the same kind of right-wing slander that the UK gets, it's still income support.

I don't know any adopted kids, I know five or six in permanent foster positions, and there's a couple of foster parents in town who do short term fostering. I don't know anyone who has given up a child for adoption, either.

[kindkit]

*nods* I'm beginning to think that the quite pro-adoption attitude in the US has a lot to do with the strength of the anti-abortion movement and the very negative attitude towards any kind of income support.