New Celeb Status Symbol

Revealing Look at Celebrity Adoptions of African Babies

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

Hollywood trends today do not make sense to me. It seems now all the hottest, or wannabe-hottest, celeb women in Hollywood are flying their private jets over to Africa and picking the first cute baby they find to adopt. Of course, I support rescuing children from horrible, poverty-stricken, AIDS-ravaged areas, but do these celebrities generally want to adopt or just want publicity?

Sincerely,

Baby Blunder 

A:

Dear Baby Blunder, 

Don't discount your suspicions. It appears Hollywood is gaga over African babies these days. Is this the new status symbol, or a way for celebrities to use their status to bring attention to the plight of children in Africa?

Yes, non-white babies are a trend in Hollywood. This is only relatively new, and was summed up in a British television comedy called Absolutely Fabulous! when upon learning her single daughter is pregnant, Edwina, one of the middle aged, fashion director leads in the show gets wildly upset -- only to do a 180 degree turn when she finds out that the baby is bi-racial because having a bi-racial baby is much more chic than a caucasian baby, and will make her a very trendy grandmother. It's comedy, but it's grounded in truth of the time.

The non-white baby craze is the celeb way of addressing their own infertility limitations and/or their open-mindedness and charity. Non-white babies used to be very difficult to place by adoption agencies because most families wanted white babies. The same way fashion shifts and hemlines change, Hollywood suddenly embraced bi-racial and non-white babies, and American loves celebrities, and followed suit.

What about American children awaiting adoption?

They will be adopted by other people who cannot afford the exotic adoption trips that stars with money can take to Africa, India, China and other countries ... until adopting foreign babies becomes blase and adopting American children is a new trend.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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