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It seems like the worse the economy gets, the more we hear horror stories about the things people do for money. This latest one -- a mom in Texas sold her baby for $2,000, paid in an installment plan -- is one of the worst. But before we go all "worst mom on the planet" on her, we should take a moment to consider the possibilities.
Isn't it within the realm of possibility that she believed she was doing this for the good of her 7-month-old? As insane as it sounds to someone who would never do such a thing (most of us), desperation can make us do some pretty desperate things.
Would I sell my child? Hell no. But I also wouldn't automatically assume someone who did is an evil troll who shouldn't be a mother.
Maybe I am just not in a judgemental mood. Maybe I want to see the good in people and maybe I have a little bit of empathy for the hard positions we're in even when they're our own fault. Joana Delacruz Huerta is 29. None of the stories tell what her life was like, but one can imagine.
Maybe her husband left her. Maybe she has other children to feed. Maybe she knew this woman would provide a good home for her child. We simply don't know.
What we do know is that this was an act of desperation. The bad options are that she was selling her baby to feed a drug habit or that she was simply trying to get money. No matter what, we know she was doing something illegal and it was a bad choice.
But I am not going to automatically assume the worst. As moms we do that too much, and I think it does us a great disservice and makes us look knee-jerk and not all that smart. There are almost always shades of gray. This woman probably needs help, not hate.
Does this story make you sad?
Image via Images_of_Money/Flickr
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