Fostering the Culture of Life One Baby at a Time

Our diocesen newspaper ran a story this spring about Edith George, a foster mother of 62 infants over the past 33 years. Edith had a special talent with babies, so much so that she received the nickname "the Baby Whisperer." Edith's love for babies flows from her love for God. She and her husband Don became foster parents because they wanted to offer children love and security they would not otherwise have.

As an adoptive family, I am fully aware of how important foster families are in the lives of the children they serve and of the foster mothers who entrust these little lives to foster care. Children who are given up for adoption face the challenge of starting life in an atmosphere of insecurity. They are seeking to bond to someone who can offer them love. Foster families can offer these children more than physical care, but also the spiritual and psychological foundation that they need. Even though these bonds are pulled apart when the child leaves the foster family (Edith talks about crying each time a baby left her care), they give the children a good start that adoptive families can then continue.

I have heard pro-abortion doctors, politicians and actors claim that they would rather offer a single, pregnant woman abortion than making them face the pain of giving their children up for adoption. These people don't understand the healing that takes place in the lives of birth mothers when they know that their child is being loved and cared for. A good foster family can help this healing begin. Foster families like the Georges enhance the culture of life through the love they give to foster children and the hope they can give to the children's biological parents.