Television's Adoption Problem

Last night on 30 Rock we saw newlywed Liz Lemon determine she was willing to adopt an older child instead of waiting for a baby (and curiously, we saw her discuss this with everyone except her husband). Earlier this season, we saw the forceful Julia Braverman and husband Joel come to the decision that they were willing to adopt an older boy after the newborn they invested in fell through last season. Are we seeing a trend that will call attention to older child adoption?

According to the 2007 National Study of Adoptive Parents, 94% of all adopted children were adopted before the child was 11 years old. That includes private and international adoptions. The number is still a staggering 90% for children adopted out of the foster system. And 70% of children adopted out of the foster system were 5 or younger. The Administration for Children and Families (AFCAR) estimates that there were 132,000 children in the foster system waiting to be adopted in 2007 and 52,000 adoptions. Granted, 70% percent of the children waiting to be adopted are 5 years or younger, but 20,000 teenagers still age out of the foster system each year.

There are numerous and valid reasons why someone would choose not to adopt an older child, and that is not something I want to dwell on. I watch Julia and Victor on Parenthood and think “Wow, that would be really hard. And why doesn’t overprotective, overreacting, overstressed Julia have that whole family meeting with some sort of counselor during the transition? Come on writers, know your characters better!” Growing up, at least in my experience on television, babies were adopted and older kids without parents caused trouble. I’d see young adults on my mother’s soap operas that find out they were adopted in some over the top crisis moment. I’d see the young couple on Judging Amy be in the delivery room for the birth of their child. But as for kids that could walk and talk, they were just sort of stuck in a group home (unless they could miraculously help Danny Glover’s Angels win the pennant). Sure, you’d see the storyline where someone stumbles upon a high school student living in a car, and some young adult takes him or her in, à la Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill. You’ll note though, that when it came time to actually adopt children for her family, she chose to go the newborn route.

Anyone that chooses to adopt a child and give that child a nurturing, loving home is a saint. Let me just say that. However, I am glad to see that Hollywood is turning to a less cliché adoption story and will maybe encourage people to think about adopting older children. I know that 30 Rock only has four episodes left, so whatever they do with that storyline will in no way resemble an actual adoption process, but I’m glad they’re going to tackle it. Maybe in a few years we’ll have television characters adopting special needs kids too.