"I don't think I want children of my own - I'll adopt". AIBU to think that Leona Lewis should engage brain before opening mouth?

[SybilRamkin]

Article in The Times this morning. Surely if you adopt children then they are 'children of your own' regardless of whether they're home-grown or not?!

Sometimes I despair.

YANBU. And I don't think you are being at all pedantic. It is language that unfortunately many people thoughtlessly use. If you adopt a child, he/she is most certainly your own.

Er sometimes people phrase things incorrectly, here is a grip!

I accept that adoptees and adoptive parents can be offended or hurt by this phrase.
So what expression would be a better one to use? Honest question.

There is children out there who needs a loving home and to some people like LL wants that child.

Op just took what LL said out of context.

I'm adopted and I think your outrage is ridiculous.

Pacific, people usually say "birth parent" or "biological parent" or "biological child." Terms like natural mother, real parent, etc. can be very hurtful.

I know someone who adopted four girls. Once someone asked her, "Are they related?" She replied, "Yes, they are sisters." The person persisted in saying, "No, I mean are they really sisters?" She said, "If you mean are they biologically related, no. But they are really sisters." The idiot kept insisting, "Oh, no, they're not. They're not really sisters." All in front of four little girls.

I'm sure the person quoted in the OP meant no harm, and I'm certainly not implying she would behave like the extremely obtuse person I just described. But I do think it would be nice if people in general became more sensitive to this issue.

Who on earth is Leona Lewis?

An inane statement, but her meaning is easily guessable.

Perhaps OP you should engage brain before posting new threads.

MrsDV, take care x.

Thank you, Kitchen. I think I use 'biological' parent (I have adopted cousins). I still struggle to see how LL could have phrased it better.

FWIW MrsD, I have never thought of her as a bimbo, although I will confess to not knowing a huge amount about her. Her version of 'Run' was played at my friend's funeral, and I have a fondness for her for that - silly reason perhaps!

There are interviews going back as far as 2008 in which LL explains her desire to adopt.

Most of them give the same quotes from her and then put their own spin on it, from wanting to be like Angelina Jolie to wanting to 'rescue' children from Africa.

But in the quotes from LL she doesn't mention AJ or the word 'rescue' at all.

I cannot find a link to the particular interview you are referring to OP, but it sounds to me like something a newspaper would cobble together for a headline out of words she might actually have said.

But the meaning to me seems fairly clear whether she said those exact words or not, especially having read the other interviews she has given on the subject.

And that would be true regardless of MrsDV being here.

MrsDV thanks for commenting, and I do indeed feel differently with context provided. I was just being a pedant and didn't want to cause offense.

And just to clarify, my much-loved sister is adopted, so I really wasn't out to get anyone or stir up trouble. Just pedantic.