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Minister's plan to increase adoption: Make them free

The Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson
The Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson wants to make adoptions free in the United States.  


By Rhonda Rowland
CNN medical correspondent

(CNN) -- More than 100,000 orphaned children in the United States are waiting for homes. They could be part of a family tomorrow.

Some children are difficult to place because of their race. In other cases, families would like to open their homes to a child -- but can't, because of the high cost of adoption.

A former pro football player turned evangelical minister is trying to change the face of adoption in a radical way. He wants to make all adoptions free -- a proposal causing a major stir in the adoption industry.

The Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson, a former middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, finished his football career in Seattle. He then started the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington.

There is no actual church -- its membership, which crosses all denominations and all races, meets in a high school gymnasium.

Those people include orphans.

"We are dedicated to make sure that adoption will be done right in the United States," says Hutcherson. "That is our commitment as a church and we are going to stick to it -- as no one else is willing to fight for it -- because it is just a right issue."

Billboard
The Rev. Hutcherson designed billboards criticizing adoption agencies' practices and policies.  

Hutcherson claims that it sometimes costs more money to adopt white children than it does to adopt blacks or other minorities.

Adoption advocates say this is not the norm and that the figures were skewed by some unregulated entrepreneurs.

Licensed adoption agencies say they use a sliding fee scale for adoptions, basing their fees on an adoptive couple's ability to pay -- not on the child's race.

Medina Children's Services in Seattle has been in the adoption business for 80 years.

"Our fees are based strictly and solely on the income of the family and not on race," says Rebecca Heartz of Medina Children's Services. "People with an income of less than $40,000 -- for our particular agency -- will pay no fee ... $15,000 is the cap. That is the fee assessed to people whose taxable income has averaged $150,000 or more."

Hutcherson calls that elitism. "Either white children are the Mercedes of all children -- and everyone else is less -- or you are saying white couples can afford it. 'They want a white child so let's charge them.' Either way, I think it's discriminatory."

Hutcherson has a way to solve both problems: Make all adoptions free.

"Whether you like it or not, it works. And if you don't like it, then we're really going to put you out of business," he says with a laugh.

To prove it, Hutcherson opened the Antioch Adoption Agency -- funded by his church. It supports a handful of paid staff who get help from volunteers.

Cindy Friedmutter -- an adoptive mother herself -- directs an adoption policy institute. She acknowledges the need for better regulation and enforcement to weed out the untrained adoption facilitators. However, she says Hutcherson's ideas are impractical and that it costs money to provide the needed legal services and counseling.

"The reverend is doing adoption a disservice by making it seem that every child is up for sale," said Friedmutter, of Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "That is not how adoption works for most families."

Mike and Dina Johnson were one of Antioch's first clients. They already adopted two daughters in California. After moving to Washington, they wanted to adopt again.

"It seemed in Washington that adoptions tended to run a lot more, which was difficult for us as a young family," explained Mike Johnson.

They were led to Antioch and brought home Chloe five months ago, free of charge.

"Do I wish all adoptions could be cost-free?" asked Johnson. "Certainly. I'm not sure how possible that is."



 
 
 
 







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