The Defender Podcast
Does Adoption Have a PR Problem?
On this episode of The Table, host Dr. Rick Morton and the full panel, Chelsea Sobolik, Emily Chapman Richards, and Herbie Newell, welcome Lauren McAfee, founder and CEO of Life Collective, PhD student in ethics and public policy, and adoptive mom of three. Lauren shares how her passion for life and adoption began at a family birthday dinner, where an empty seat at the table prompted her and her sister to ask their parents about adopting. That prayerful nudge led to her youngest sister joining the family from China and eventually to Lauren and her husband, Michael, adopting three daughters from China, India, and the U.S. She also recounts how the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case drew her into national pro-life leadership and inspired the founding of Life Collective. The panel explores the power of collective impact, why unity among like-minded ministries matters, and how churches can build networks that wrap holistic support around vulnerable women, children, and families. Lauren unpacks the Imago Dei as the foundation for both human dignity and our need for community, and she challenges Protestants to think more carefully about the ethics of reproductive technologies. With the State Department reporting intercountry adoption at an all-time low of roughly 800 in FY25, the group tackles the "PR problem" facing international adoption. Drawing on Chelsea's perspective as both an adoptee and adoptive mom, they discuss how Christians can hold grief and hope together, honor adult adoptee voices, and advocate well ahead of the 2027 Hague Special Commission on intercountry adoption. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and panel introductions 03:40 Lauren's story: adoption, Hobby Lobby, and Life Collective 12:40 Collective impact and unity in the pro-life movement 17:14 The church as a community that lives out the call 21:50 Bioethics, reproductive technology, and the Protestant church 28:01 Intercountry adoption hits an all-time low 34:46 International adoption's PR problem 41:23 Laying down agendas for the bigger vision 47:18 Adult adoptee voices and the 2027 Hague Special Commission 49:51 Closing thoughts Pull up a chair, and subscribe, rate, and review The Table wherever you listen or watch.
