Adoption carries a ribbon of emotion that runs from the birth mother to the adoptive parents and to the child who was adopted. And its threads run through debates of the pros and cons of adoption carried on worldwide by policy makers and politicians, social workers and members of the media.

Photo by Chuck Wing

Fred Riley, commissioner of LDS Family Services, speaks at luncheon during Church's Families Supporting Adoption national conference at BYU.

There was some of all of this at the national conference of the LDS Family Services' organization for adoptive parents Families Supporting Adoption, held at BYU's Wilkinson Center July 28. The national conference included an address by William L. Pierce, one of the leading voices in America favoring traditional adoptions; a talk by Fred Riley, commissioner of LDS Family Services; an awards evening and 17 workshops on adoption topics. About 500 people attended the conference, most of them families involved with adoption.

Mr. Pierce, who is not a member of the Church, said that opposition to adoption has led to declining numbers of adoptions, creating a "terrible crisis" for the more than 2 million childless couples in the United States and the 14,000 healthy babies available annually for adoption. He praised LDS Family Services as "one of the most stalwart organizations that supports adoption."

And at the awards program, LDS songwriter and performer Michael McLean touched on the delicate and deep caring of the birth mothers, adoptive parents and children involved in adoption.

Both Mr. Pierce and Brother McLean were presented with Families Supporting Adoption Hall of Fame Awards for their contributions in the field of adoption. The awards were presented at the annual Adoption Hall of Fame Banquet held July 27. Previous recipients of this award have been President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency; and Harold C. Brown, managing director of Welfare Services, in 2000 and 1999, respectively.

Brother McLean spoke and sang of the love and blessings of adoptions. His song, "From God's Arms, to My Arms, To Yours," written for a birth mother "who needed a song" has had a profound impact on people involved in adoption.

Photo by David Schneider

Delegates participate in conference service project.

Brother McLean told how the song came to be written. He said he received a phone call from a young woman who said she was pregnant and not married.

"She said that 'after great soul searching, I have decided that this baby has to be raised by somebody who can get him home to Heavenly Father, and it isn't me.' " She said she needed a song and asked him to write it.

He questioned how he, as a male, could know and write about how she felt. But he felt impressed to try. He asked for her journal, studied her words, and after a few months, he wrote the song. Later, after her baby came and was given to the adoptive parents, she came into his studio and recorded the song.

"She was trembling, and she sang my song to the people she was going to give her baby to," said Brother McLean.

After she finished singing, she explained that she wanted so much for her son to know how deeply she loved him, said Brother McLean.

"She said, 'I have been in the darkness a long time; that is how I got into this predicament. But I felt the light whisper to me. I did whatever it said, because I didn't want to lose that feeling, that hope that come from doing something that I knew was right.' "

Brother McLean said the young woman was later married and now has a family of her own.

In his remarks, Brother Riley lamented the declining number of adoptions.

"The United States is the only nation in the world that continues to view adoption as a viable option for unwed parents — considering the best interest of the child as a way for a childless couple to build a family," he said.

"There are many groups in the United States actively working to eliminate adoption in the United States. This movement is counter to the best interests of the child and the opportunity for loving mothers and fathers to build their families through the process of adoption in providing a loving home for these infants.

"Approximately three years ago, LDS Family Services founded LDS Families Supporting Adoption as an organization under its umbrella.

"Families Supporting Adoption has four major goals:

1. To educate members of the Church and others about the positive effects of adoption.

2. To provide support to individuals and families involved in the adoption process.

3. To work at the state and national level to help assure positive adoption laws.

4. To ensure that adoption as an institution remains strong in the United States.

"While Families Supporting Adoption is made up primarily of adoptive couples who have worked through LDS Family Services in the adoption process, everyone interested in strengthening adoption as an institution or who is in need of information or support while going through the adoption process is encouraged to contact the local LDS Family Services agency for information on how to join FSA."

In a workshop on "Adoption and the Proclamation on the Family," Kent Brooks emphasized that in adoptive and other families, a gospel-centered home is one where love abounds and children are nurtured in the gospel by devoted parents.

He noted that Church leaders have made considerable effort to provide more time for parents of both natural and adoptive parents to teach their children.

Adopted children may have many questions about who they are, he said. Understanding the premortal existence helps adopted children know their Heavenly Father, and know that He knows them. All are literally children of Heavenly Father, and it is important for each to know of that heavenly heritage and that each has a divine purpose and destiny.

"She was trembling, and she sang my song to the people she was going to give her baby to," said Brother McLean.

"She sang:

From God's Arms, to My Arms, to Yours

With so many wrong decisions in my past, I'm not quite sure

If I could ever hope to trust my judgement any more.

But lately I've been thinking 'cause it's all I've had to do.

From God's Arms, to My Arms, To Yours

And in my heart I feel that I should give this child to you.

And maybe you could tell your baby

When you love him so, that he's been loved before;

By someone who delivered your son

From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

If you choose to tell him, or if he wants to know,

How the one who gave him life could bear to let him go;

Just tell him there were sleepless nights; I prayed and paced the floors,

And knew the only peace I'd find is if this child was yours.

And maybe you can tell your baby, when you love him so, that he's been loved before;

By someone who delivered your son from God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

Now I know that you don't have to do this,

But could you kiss him once for me

The first time that he ties his shoes, or falls and skins his knee?

And could you hold him twice as long when he makes his mistakes;

And tell him that he's not alone, — sometimes that's all it takes.

I know how much he'll ache.

This may not be the answer for another girl like me;

But I'm not on a soap-box saying how we all should be.

I'm just trusting in my feelings

And I'm trusting God above,

And I'm trusting you can give this baby both his mothers' love.

And maybe you can tell your baby, when you love him so,

That he's been loved before;

By someone who delivered your son

From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.