The Hazards of NCFA’s Biased Half-Assed Advocacy in Adoption:

Unmasking the Risks of Half-Assed Advocacy

Shane Bouel
Thoughtless Delineation
3 min readMay 8, 2024

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The Hazards of NCFA’s Biased Half-Assed Advocacy in Adoption: Unmasking the Risks of Half-Assed Advocacy
AI Artwork By Thoughtless Delineation

Within adoption discourse, the National Council for Adoption (NCFA) plays a significant role, albeit with potential dangers when advocacy efforts become biased and half-assed. NCFA’s influence, backed by its advocacy initiatives, can inadvertently obscure genuine progress with a veneer of positivity, all while neglecting crucial issues and perpetuating harm.

Misleading Facades of Progress

NCFA’s advocacy, when biased, often projects an illusion of constructive action. By selectively highlighting success stories and contented adoptees, NCFA’s narrative can mislead observers into believing that adoption experiences universally align with these positive portrayals. This skewed perception glosses over the nuanced challenges faced by many adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive families.

Unveiling the Hidden Harm

Despite NCFA’s outward promotion of adoption as a positive experience, there are underlying risks associated with biased advocacy:

1. Omission of Diverse Experiences: NCFA’s advocacy tends to overlook the diverse range of experiences within the adoption community. By prioritizing narratives that fit a particular agenda, NCFA’s advocacy inadvertently silences voices that have encountered trauma, loss, or dissatisfaction with adoption.

2. Erosion of Trust and Authenticity: NCFA’s advocacy, if perceived as disingenuous or manipulative, can erode trust within the adoption community. Adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive families may question the authenticity of NCFA’s efforts, leading to skepticism and division rather than unity and support.

3. Superficial Impact: NCFA’s advocacy may focus on superficial solutions or token gestures that fail to address systemic issues. This results in a lack of meaningful impact, where critical issues such as access to birth family information, post-adoption services, and mental health support remain inadequately addressed.

4. Neglecting Marginalized Voices: NCFA’s advocacy often sidelines the voices of marginalized groups within the adoption community. This neglect can perpetuate inequalities and systemic neglect, particularly affecting transracial adoptees, LGBTQ+ adoptees, and individuals with disabilities.

Toward Ethical Advocacy

To mitigate the risks associated with NCFA’s biased advocacy in adoption discourse, a shift towards ethical advocacy is imperative:

1. Authentic Representation: NCFA should prioritize authentic representation by amplifying diverse voices and experiences within the adoption community. This includes acknowledging challenges and complexities alongside success stories.

2. Transparency and Accountability: NCFA must operate with transparency and accountability, openly disclosing funding sources, methodologies, and agendas. This transparency fosters trust and genuine dialogue.

3. Inclusive Approaches: NCFA should adopt inclusive and intersectional approaches that center marginalized voices and address systemic inequalities within adoption.

4. Commitment to Substantive Change: NCFA’s advocacy should commit to substantive change, advocating for improved access to information, support services, mental health resources, and policies that prioritize adoptee well-being and rights.

In conclusion, NCFA’s advocacy, when biased and half-assed, can inadvertently perpetuate harm and neglect within adoption discourse. Embracing ethical advocacy principles rooted in authenticity, transparency, inclusivity, and substantive change is essential to ensure positive outcomes for the adoption community.

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Shane Bouel
Thoughtless Delineation

Using creativity to lift standards of ethics & morality by questioning half-truths and denouncing the conservancy of inhumane ideologies.