Open To Life Question

[tinytherese]

So in the past I asked this question, but the scholar didn't know the answer. A peer of mine asked it in our theology class the following:

If a married couple decided that they wanted to adopt instead of having biological children because they felt called to give orphans a loving home. Could they use NFP so as not to conceive then adopt each child?

[CatherineM]

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1306200537' post='2245171']
So in the past I asked this question, but the scholar didn't know the answer. A peer of mine asked it in our theology class the following:

If a married couple decided that they wanted to adopt instead of having biological children because they felt called to give orphans a loving home. Could they use NFP so as not to conceive then adopt each child?
[/quote]
If you are using NFP in order to space your children out, or prevent conception, you are supposed to have a serious reason. Things such as not feeling like you can financially support additional children, or if you have a special needs child that requires more attention thereby shortchanging subsequent children, or if there are potentially deadly genetic issues, or if the mother's life could be in danger, or even if the main wage-earner has been laid off work, are the kinds of serious reasons that the Church is thinking about. There is obviously room for interpretation on many of the issues. There may be couples who make 100,000 dollars a year who don't think they can afford another child, where other families will continue to welcome children with half that income. Some people will interpret a mother's well being to include something like a woman who makes her living as a model not wanting to lose her figure, or where a woman who faces gestational diabetes or eclampsia may choose to be open to life without using NFP.

The idea of using NFP so that their family can consist of only adopted children is similar in my mind to adopting frozen embryos. You could ask two different moral theologians, and get two different answers. It's one of those areas that can be reasonably argued either way. If a couple has adopted a child, then that child is part of their family just as any other natural child would be. If after that they wish to space their children for a valid reason, I see no reason why they can't use NFP, so long as they are open to any children that might come along anyway. I've met more than one couple who have given up on getting pregnant, only to become so after adopting a child. I believe if they have properly looked at their consciences in consultation with their confessors or pastors, then it is a decision that should be within their marriage, and not for others outside the relationship to judge.

That's just my opinion though. I can't recall reading anything about this specific scenario before.