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If churches engage in a billboard campaign, it's usually evangelistic. But signs rented by Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond ask, "Are adoption agencies in it for love or money?" Pastor Ken Hutcherson (a former Seahawks linebacker) is particularly upset that some agencies often charge different fees based on the race of the child. "The most discriminated-against couples in America today are white couples trying to adopt white children," Hutcherson, who is black, told The Seattle Times. His church runs Antioch Adoptions, which has placed 40 children during the last year one-third to families in the congregation. The families pay nothing, and costs (less than $2,500 each) are paid by donors.

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The official Web site of Antioch Bible Church has a section for its adoption efforts.

Other news coverage includes:

Are Private Adoption Agencies Charging More for White Babies?—FOX News (May 2, 2002)

Minister's plan to increase adoption: Make them free —CNN (April 12, 2002)

Preacher Calls Adoption Fees Discriminatory—ABC News (March 12, 2002)

Adoption reformer `oversimplifies': Local agencies deny they charge by a child's race—Eastside Journal, Bellevue, Washington (March 16, 2002)

Reverend criticizes adoption fees based on race—The Seattle Times (March 1, 2002)

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April 22 2002, Vol. 46, No. 5