Why are they in a hospital bed? (Adoption related)

I'm not sure I understand the issue. Most hospitals in the US don't have large wards as in the UK, babies room in with the parents. Typically only a night or so but sometimes longer. So this is likely the room for the babies and parents, with the latter sitting on the bed for the photo.

I'm not sure who else would be taking care of the babies, they can't stay in the room alone.

It's not special treatment for new parents to be allowed into a hospital to see their newborns. Particularly when there are two babies - even if there were one parent one child restrictions (which there aren't in many/most places) they would be fine with two parents and two children.

On the other hand, this is America and if you have the money or status you do get better treatment - it's the basis of the whole healthcare system.

It's horrible and unfair but it's the way it works in private healthcare. If you have great insurance or plenty of money then you get better treatment, better facilities, and better conditions.

Also, if you have good insurance most maternity rooms are private - if I hadn't had insurance my bill from the hospital for a vaginal uncomplicated birth and 2 nights in hospital would have been about $80,000. With insurance we ended up paying about $1000.

For that type of billing you get a lot of privacy and comfort - and we were in a regular city hospital not a fancy luxury one for rich and powerful people.

Here you have a couple who have either adopted or used a surrogate and have been assigned a room in the hospital to take care of their newborns. They sat down together on the bed in that room for a sweet proud new parents ohoto - I really don't understand why anyone has an issue with this.

There is zero possibility that they are sitting on the mother’s hospital bed. She will have her own separate room.

There really isn’t any reason for them to avoid sitting in any comfortable spot in the room they have been assigned.

So you expect one parent to be stood all the time, including when feeding their new born baby?

Most (maybe all) hospitals in the US aren't allowing pediatric patients to have more than one parent/caregiver present at one time due to covid, so it's a moot point. The usual rules are being bent in all kinds of ways for these two.

It's possible that the babies were brought to them in a separate room from the mother. And that to take a photo with everyone in it together there was only the bed which was big enough to sit down together.

The babies would be admitted to the hospital as patients for at least 24-48 hours after a birth. It’s not uncommon for the adoptive parents to take over immediately following the birth. The adoption isn’t final at that point, but they are allowed to start parenting. Thus they would be given a room in the hospital because the babies would have a room in the hospital.

The tweets are very carefully worded. Nowhere have they said that these two babies are adopted. We assume they are, because of the previous media reports that Pete and Chasten were pursuing adoption. But I thought it was interesting that they haven't actually confirmed this. Of course everyone involved is entitled to their privacy and I wish the new family every happiness.

Mothers and babies should be supported to stay together. Separating them causes life long suffering to both even when it is actually the best and safest course of action in some circumstances.

It is heartbreaking and tragic when babies cannot be loved and nurtured by the woman who brought them into the world and ideally with the loving support and care of the man who fathered them even if he is not the romantic partner of the mother.

Typical hospital rooms for labor and afterward in a nice US hospital involve couches, chairs, and so on. It's all very large and nice. Hospital staff definitely tells you not to be on the hospital bed if you are not the patient, if you're a normal person. But ah, for a cute congressional photo shoot, whatever, right?

I would also like to add all the barriers to accessing contraception and abortion in the US (financial and anti abortion lobby).

And the lack of any support system to enable mothers and babies to stay together.

In the UK mothers do not “willingly” give up their babies for a better life with wealthier parents, because we still have at least enough support structures in place to prevent this primal trauma of separation which has life long consequences.

Adoption in the UK happens only for child protection, not as a commodity for would be parents.

1. They are in a hospital tending to their newborn babies (changing/feeding/bonding …all those things newborns need from their parents). They will likely have a hospital room at their disposal to do so.

1. I cannot understand why you have leapt to the judgement that the birth mother has been airbrushed out based on ONE picture. It’s an adoption, of course she doesn’t want to be in this picture!! But who’s to know they haven’t taken private pictures of mother with babies etc. The fact is it is nobody’s else’s business.

1. Horrifying? Get a grip.

Let me assure you that the standard hospital room in the U.S. does come with chairs. There is generally one for every bed. So there is no excuse for that bullshit. Patients are the only ones who are supposed to sit on the beds. It is frowned upon for other people to touch them.

Time to address your unconscious bias OP.

Well, good for them for adopting two babies and giving them a loving home.

The UK adoption system starts from the premise of loss - acknowledging the child has lost its biological parents and the negative impact this can have. I am deeply uncomfortable with the American narrative that adoption is only something to celebrate, it isn’t, it starts with loss.

Also interesting that states are now banning abortion whilst we see the media push the rosy picture of separating a baby from its biological mother.

Does anyone really care what the situation is 🤣

American chiming in here:

I initially assumed it was surrogacy, too, based on the bed. If they had an existing relationship with a surrogate, and she was comfortable with their presence, then it would make sense for them to be in her room. It's believable that she'd be ok with them using her room and even her bed for a photo shoot. But if they adopted the children of someone they'd never met, then obviously they wouldn't be in her room using her bed as a prop. So it must have been an empty room, which raises other questions.

The American media talks incessantly about covid-related hospital bed shortages. I understand that the beds themselves aren't literally what they're running out of (though you see occasional stories about patients lying on floors). I don't know which hospital this was or whether that area has a shortage currently. But neither do most people who just look at the picture, so an unknown hospital letting non-patients use an empty room and bed for a photo op is obviously going to raise eyebrows.

I've never heard of someone booking a hospital room as though it were a hotel, and even if that were allowed ordinarily, I guarantee it wouldn't be for normal people during covid. Pediatric rooms usually have some kind of furniture parents can sleep on, like a sofa or recliner or futon, but generally not an extra hospital bed.

Also, the waiting list for adopting a surrendered newborns in the US is a lot longer than a few months, so either they've been on it for years and it just now became public, or they used their connections to jump the line.

The hospital bed doesn’t bother me but the US newborn adoption system is as ethically questionable as surrogacy.

Women ‘match’ usually during pregnancy with prospective parents
They are paid expenses which they often feel pressure to give back if they choose not to place the baby
The prospective parents are often present at the birth, they are often pressured to sign relinquishments within hours of birth
There is pressure to move states to avoid the baby’s father staking any claim to the baby as in some states, a father has to register his interest prior to the birth whether or not he knows the women is pregnant, whether or not he knows she will go to that state.
In many states open adoption agreements are unenforceable
Counselling is often coercive and many women receive neither independent counselling or legal advice

The newborn adoption system in the US sidelines mothers just as surely as surrogacy.

Oh fgs sake OP - Give it a rest. They are in hospital presumably because the babies are in hospital. As others have said hospital rooms don't tend to come equipped with 2 seater sofas.