katherine heigl's "adoptable critters"

You might have heard that actress Katherine Heigl and her husband recently adopted a baby girl from South Korea. Hooray for them. But does anyone else find it in extremely bad taste that they made the announcement about the adoption and posted photos of their baby on Heigl's animal adoption foundation website?

It's all right there -- adorable photos of 10-month old Nancy Leigh ("Naleigh") on The Jason Debus Heigl Foundation's news section... right alongside announcements in support of animal rescue organizations and invitations to "get your dog fixed for free" and "meet some of our adoptable critters." You make the connection.

I know this was a couple of months ago, but it's still up there on the site. Putting an announcement about the adoption of a human child between posts about dog and cat adoption events? A rather frightening display of ignorance. At the very least, it's extremely insensitive on the part of whoever was responsible for posting the news.

I'd like to think that Katherine Heigl, not only the new mother of an adopted Korean baby, but whose sister was also adopted from Korea, would have a better understanding of transnational adoption and its issues. For your reference, there's a handy contact form here to leave some constructive feedback...

Here's the final word from Sara, an adoptee herself, who pointed this whole thing out to me: "I am angered and saddened that Katherine Heigl, her family, her publicist, and those involved in posting the announcement would think this was an acceptable course of action. Their daughter is a human being, not a stray dog or a lost cat."