Should We Be Outraged By Al Trautwig’s Comments about Adoption?

Last night in Rio, American gymnast Simone Biles won the gold in Women’s individual all-around. It’s no wonder – she is the best in the world. For those of you not acquainted with Miss Biles, this video from The New Yorker will help, as will as this one from the New York Times:

But Biles’ amazing athleticism isn’t the only reason she’s been in the news lately.

On Monday NBC announcer Al Trautwig said that Biles’ parents aren’t her real parents.

Why not?

Because Biles was adopted when she was a toddler.

Trautwig’s comments were condemned from every corner on social media and were covered by news outlets around the world.

But does the outrage actually hurt the adoption movement?

For insight, I want to share with you a piece my colleague and friend Paul Batura wrote for Breitbart on the topic. Paul works here at Focus as the vice president of communications. He writes:

As an adoptive father of three boys, I’m well aware of the verbal challenges associated with openly talking about the sensitive issue of adoption, especially when you’re talking with children who were adopted and adoptive parents themselves. Sincere and loving friends regularly ask us about the status of our boys’ “real” parents – or whether or not Riley, Will and Alex are “brothers

So what’s Paul’s take on the controversy surrounding Al Trautwig and Simone Biles? He writes:

Today, there are well over 400,000 children in foster care with 100,000 children available for adoption. In all due respect, that so many children so desperately are seeking a forever home should be more offensive to the public than a sport’s announcer’s imprecise language about adoption itself.

I hope you’ll head over to Breitbart and read Paul’s full piece, “Does Outcry Over Al Trautwig’s Comments Actually Hurt the Adoption Movement?”