Adoption is so complicated, so fast-changing, so loaded with ethical dilemmas, politics, and passion; I scour a dozen Web sites and magazines just to stay current as an adoptive mom. Still, the more I know, the more questions I have, especially about international adoption, which appears to be petering out.
Three destination countries—Guatemala, China, and Russia—are in the midst of changes that point toward a future of far fewer young children available to American parents. Combined, these countries sent about 16,000 children to the United States in 2005.
Most agree there will always be opportunities for Americans to adopt school-age children and children with special needs. But an Adoption Today article recently issued this dire yet vague prediction: “The handwriting is on the wall. Declines were recorded last year in nearly all countries that recently have been the top source of adopted children—China, Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine among them. Increases from less familiar alternatives —Ethiopia, Liberia, Haiti, and Vietnam partly offset the drop, but … we expect that fewer children will be adopted internationally by the end of the next decade.”
The author, Jean Nelson Erichsen, is a co-founder of a Texas international adoption agency. In her article, she encourages parents to consider American children in foster care (not always an option, as this story explains). It strikes me as bold for an international adoption agency leader to promote domestic adoption. The author encourages parents contemplating an overseas adoption to get moving now or risk being shut out.
I understand why countries are loath to allow their precious children to be adopted internationally. What does it say about a country that cannot take care of its children?
But as an adoptive parent, it makes me cry to think of so many orphaned children around the world and so many couples and singles in the United States desperate to be parents. Many parents with biological children want to expand their family through adoption. Yet, their options are narrowing and the two-year timeframe makes foreign adoption less doable.
I wish all children could grow up in their birth country with a loving family and access to healthcare and education. But in many countries, the resources are not there. And in China, where my husband and I filed a petition to adopt on March 21, 2006, complicated social policies have historically led to babies in need of homes.
PREVIOUS PAGE
