Just when you thought the internet couldn’t get any stranger, Sims 4 enthusiasts are role-playing the adoption and foster process via Instagram. Players are creating Sim children with elaborate back stories and placing them within Sims adoption agencies.
The Sims is a popular game in which players create avatars and simulate their lives. The franchise was created by gaming giant EA, most famous for games such as FIFA which recently ended its years-long deal with the firm.
Sims adoption agencies are a new growing area on Instagram, requiring users to fill out an adoption form from the perspective of an adult Sim. The Sim’s full name, profession and relationship status must be entered on the form, whether they plan to foster or adopt, and their reason for doing so. Interested parties will also need to confirm whether they have a Simstagram account — which, as the name suggests, is Instagram for Sims — and, if so, whether their account is a story or role-playing account. Some agencies also require a list of family members and pets.
Essentially these role players are attempting to simulate the adoption process as accurately as possible.
Sims with tragic tales
And the Sims created for the sites have – just as real orphans seeking a family and a fresh start – often tragic backstories. All created for them by the parties placing them there for adoption.
Scenarios created for the adoptable Sims run from being the sole survivor of a triple homicide to being given up because the biological parents couldn’t afford their cancer treatments.
Available for adoption through the Green Tea Adoptions agency, 13-year-old Odette’s backstory states that her parents died in a car crash. She was then taken in by her aunt, who neglected her. Loving Hands Adoptions is a bit more cryptic with their backstories, such as the one for Devon, who must be adopted by a family without guns and who requires therapy twice a week.
According to the Sims community, the tragic backstories are meant to reflect actual issues children in foster care may have faced. However, whether those involved in the actual process of fostering and adoption will find this role play offensive or as a way to shine a light on the need for good homes for orphaned and abused children remains to be seen.
Jack Brassell is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Jack is a self-proclaimed nerd with a lifelong passion for storytelling. As an author, Jack writes mostly horror and young adult fantasy. Also an avid gamer, she works as the lead news editor at Hardcore Droid. When she isn't writing or playing games, she can often be found binge-watching Parks & Rec or The Office, proudly considering herself to be a cross between Leslie Knope and Pam Beasley.
