Co-host Wendy Griffith shared the following question from an anonymous viewer: "I'm adopted. All 8 of my siblings are adopted, and only 1 of them still speaks to my adoptive parents. I never felt loved by them, and my adoptive dad made it clear that I was 'just another kid in the line-up of adopted kids.' If they don't really see me as their daughter, do I still have to honor them as my parents? Am I in the wrong by cutting them out of my life?"
Here is Pat Robertson's response:
They aren't really your parents, I mean an adoptive parent. If they have taken the role of parent, if they have become a loving parent and they have establishing a bond with you, of course. But I don't know why they had you unless maybe they were trying to get welfare payments or something. I don't understand the situation you're talking about. But it's not the same thing as the one who brought you into the world as your biological parent.Don't get me wrong. I have no problem if somebody cuts themselves of from or limits contact with a toxic parent or family members. But Pat Robertson's attitude towards adoptive parents really highlights something that I've encountered -- as an adoptive father and more specifically as a gay adoptive father -- from religious conservatives repeatedly: They really don't honor adoptive families.
Don't get me wrong. Religious conservatives highlight adoption as a preferred alternative to abortion and third world poverty. But they don't view us as legitimate parents to our children and they don't treat us with respect when they speak of us.
I can't imagine Pat Robertson approving of a viewer completely cutting him/herself off from her/his parents in any other situation outside of something extremely dangerous or criminal. Here though? It's okay. After all, it's not like they created you or gave birth to you.
Shame, "700 Club." Shame...
You can watch the entire segment here.