What Twitter Can Teach You About Adoption

Recently we sat down with author and editor-extraordinaire, Kevin Hendricks, to chat about his latest literary creation, Addition by Adoption: Kids, Causes & 140 Characters. Aside from being a fellow Bethel grad and running his own communications company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, Kevin’s an adopting dad. His book talks about his experience with adoption while integrating his social media life into the fold. Yes, it can be done!

Personally, I’ve had the chance to work with Kevin on a few projects for the Center for Church Communication. Through those experiences, I can tell you that Kevin’s solid. He’s a good dude and I’m excited for you to hear his story behind Addition by Adoption.

Deviant: What was the main inspiration for writing “Adoption by Addition”?

Kevin Hendricks: I started pulling the book together because I wanted to share all the funny stories about our family with my Grandma. She’s not on the Internet at all so Twitter means nothing to her. But the kind of stuff I was sharing on Twitter is the kind of thing she’d love. And it turns out a lot of folks felt the same way.

The letter I received from my Grandma about the book has probably been one of the coolest things about this whole project.

That’s how the book started, but it’s definitely grown well beyond something to share with my Grandma. It evolved to include my son’s adoption and the causes we’ve embraced.

D: Social media seemed to play a huge part in writing this book. Give us an idea of how you use social media in your everyday life and the benefits you see from it.

KH: I’m a work-at-home dad with two kids under four. I don’t get much social interaction with adults. It sounds pathetic, but social media is one way I get some of that interaction during the day (Editor’s note: HA!). Twitter and Facebook keep me connected.

I use social media to share stuff about my family, pass on interesting links, offer insights or comments or dumb stuff. It’s kind of amazing how Twitter has changed how I consume media. I used to read magazines—Time, Wired, Fast Company. Now I check Twitter.

D: If you were riding in an elevator and only had 30 seconds to describe your book to someone, what would that conversation sound like?

KH: It’d probably sound very awkward, because pitching my book to strangers in an elevator is the last thing I’d do. Shameless promotion is part of the self-publishing package, but I’m not that shameless.

But if you want the digest version, the book is a curated selection of Twitter posts about raising kids, embracing causes and our adoption journey. It’s eyebrow-raising quotes from my daughter, breakfast time songs and how my son became a part of our family.

Are you clawing at the elevator door yet?

D: There are a few causes connected to your book. Tell us about them and what you’ve chosen to do with some of the profits from your book.

KH: The biggest one is water. A portion of the proceeds from the book (about $2 per copy) are being donated to charity: water to build a clean water well in Ethiopia. I’m also encouraging people to make additional donations or just skip the book and donate directly to charity: water (http://mycharitywater.org/addition).

Water is such a simple thing that we don’t even think about it. But a billion people don’t have access to clean water, and it kills them. That’s the reality. Kids die every day from drinking dirty water. Ethiopia—my son Milo’s birthplace—is especially hard hit, so it’s a no-brainer to support a cause like this.

Other causes don’t get nearly as much space in the book, but I do talk about homelessness quite a bit (if you’re not following Mark Horvath and InvisiblePeople.tv, you need to be).

D: Finally, what is the biggest misconception people have about adoption?

KH: Oh boy, where do I start? I could talk forever about this, but how about just five misconceptions:

People think it’s too hard. They think you have to be some superhero to adopt.

People think it’s too easy. They think a little love can cover over a lifetime of pain and they’re not prepared for the reality of it.

People think adoption is only for those who can’t have a biological child.

People see the price tag and red tape and assume someone is getting rich. Corruption can certainly happen, but important protections are in place to prevent human trafficking, and unfortunately, that’s not cheap.

People overlook the inherent pain in adoption. I like to talk about how wonderful adoption is, but another reality is that if a kid needs to be adopted it’s because of some kind of trauma.

Support Kevin by checking out his book on Amazon or stop by his website and hire him for a huge, giant communications project. YES!