To the editors:



I was disappointed and disturbed to read Kyle A. de Beausset’s comment (“Adopt a Conscience,” Oct. 31). When I was eight years old my parents adopted my sister, Kim, who was three months old at the time, from Korea. Within two years we learned that she had cerebral palsy and mental retardation. Thanks to many years of advocacy by my mom, great public school programs, and many wonderful people, Kim now has a terrific situation living in a group home in Wellesley. She works at a retail store and has a wonderful social life. Had she not had the very good fortune to be adopted I can’t even imagine what kind of life she would have led back in an orphanage in Korea.

De Beausset’s arguments demonstrate real ignorance about issues of international adoption. Adoptive parents make this choice for a wide range of reasons—and Madonna’s reasoning, whatever it may be, is certainly not representative of all adoptive parents. I am sorry he is upset when he sees fellow Guatemalans being adopted, but I am not sure what a “country’s dignity” is and I am sure I’d rather see people like my sister living a full life than in a “dignified” orphanage.



JEFFREY S. BEHRENS ’89

Newton, Mass.

October 31, 2006