Birthmothers have a difficult road ahead. Before they even get to our door, they’ve made some difficult decisions. Decisions to carry a child they did not intend to conceive, to offer a better life for this child they cannot parent. Despite the bravery of these decisions, they fear judgment from family members and peers.

One birthmother put it this way, “My friends would rather live with the emotional downside of the abortion than to face family and church members who talk about forgiveness, but who don’t practice it.”

What difficult words for us to hear! As we speak to churches and civic groups about adoption, we remind them that adoption is patterned after our adoption into God’s family—the greatest adoption story ever. Let’s put it into perspective.

We do not do anything to deserve adoption into the God’s family. In Ephesians 1:5 Paul tells us God chose to look past our faults, to forgive those faults, and adopt us into His family. We did nothing to deserve this adoption. Now think about how modern adoptions are patterned after this eternal adoption. The children we place have done nothing to “deserve” adoption. They’ve lived hard lives, born into difficult circumstances and some have endured unimaginable tragedy. But every day families open their hearts and homes to make these children part of their family.

We’re given full rights of the family. Paul also tells us in Romans 8:17 that since we are God’s children, we are also His heirs along with Christ His biological son. What a beautiful picture of adoption! Not all families have biological children, but the ones who do welcome adopted children into their home and offer them the full rights as heirs to the family. While the blood lines may be different, parents who adopt offer the same love, guidance and inheritance to their adopted children as they offer their biological children.

Finally we’re given a family resemblance. We cannot live in our old life and enjoy the benefits of our new life. We’re call to look and act like our new Father. (Romans 12:1-2). Children whether adopted at birth or later may not ever look physically like their parents, but they will pick up the language, actions and customs of their new family.

We rejoice in our adoption into the family of God! Let us remember the origins of adoption come from God and offer support, love and forgiveness to the birthmothers we know instead of the silent judgment and words of gossip.