Strolling through the check-out aisle today, a headline caught my eye. I’m not usually big on celebrity gossip but I had to do a double-take. It can’t be true. The headline read:
“Jessica Simpson plans to adopt a baby”
Excuse me, what? This is Jessica “chicken of the sea” Simpson we’re talking about? You have got to be kidding me. Really now, this celebrity motherhood “fad” has gone off the deep end. Enough is enough.
At 25 years old and separated from her husband, Nick Lachey, for only four months, rumors abound that Jessica is ready for a new person in her life – a child. Who is to fault for these vicious words? None other than Simpson’s publicist, himself, Rob Shuter! I’d call that a credible rumor, for sure.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the words adopted and Simpson in the same sentence. Jessica, herself, recently admitted, on the TV show ‘Extra’ that she would like to adopt before having biological children. She was inspired, she said, by Angelina Jolie, citing all of the amazing work Jolie has done for International Adoption. Great – a trendsetter. That’s fabulous. All we need is another Hollywood Fad with babies as the central focus.
I wonder, out loud, is being rich and wanting to “save” someone sufficient reason to become a Mother? How about a large donation to allow a child’s natural parent to raise them, themselves, in an impoverished area of the world? Simpson claims to want to “touch someone in a very special way” but does she also want to be a full-time Mother? Or even a part-time one? Please tell me there is more to this story than simply a public desire to “help”. Motherhood is so much more than that. Maybe it’s an unfair or unrealistic comparison (I sure hope so) but I’ve seen how Simpson raised (or failed to raise) a puppy on her reality TV show, ‘Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica’. If that’s a predictor of things to come, I am rightfully worried.
I can’t help but wonder if these adoption rumors are an intentional ploy to cause further drama during Ms. Simpson’s divorce proceedings. Lachey was rumored to badly desire children during the couple’s marriage. When a couple pursues International adoption, there are almost always requirements for length of time married before a couple can be approved as adoptive parents. I think it is a real shame that there aren’t also requirements for length of time divorced. What kind of child deserves to be brought into a home with an impending divorce or a newly divorced celebrity mother? Is this really best for the child? Even a child in need? Isn’t it just moving a child from one unfortunate situation to another?
Maybe I’m cranky or disillusioned. Surely I’m being judgmental. But I’m just not quite ready to embrace Simpson as Mother.