I've wanted to adopt for what feels like forever. I remember hearing stories about many, many unwanted
baby girls in China in the 1990’s (due to China’s one-child policy, most
families seemed to prefer have a son). I
remember my young heart longing to take care of those girls as my own.
I've traveled a bit –visited places in India, Nepal, Sierra
Leone, where poverty is high and orphans are plentiful. My heart continued to be broken for these “unwanted”
children.
Our time in Sierra Leone was particularly pivotal in this
process – our experiences with children there solidified my desire to adopt
from Africa.
I've struggled with international adoption some,
though. It is such an expensive process – couldn't that money be better spent to care for the children in their own
country? Shouldn't we be supporting
families in those countries to be able to care for their own children?
I would say in general, yes we certainly should support
efforts to keep children in their own country with their own family, but that also doesn't mean that it is "wrong" to pursue adoption as well. There’s another adoption blogger who perhaps
addresses this issue better than I could.
Her post is long, but it’s worth reading if this is an area of interest
for you. (Click here to read more)
A couple general thoughts:
1. Adoption
is GOOD: For those of us who are
Christians, we have all been adopted into the family of God. We are mandated over and over again to care
for the widows and orphans. Also, adoption
brings a forever family to a child in need.
I can’t imagine a better investment than providing a loving home to a
child.
2. International
adoption is good: God’s family is diverse – he wants people there from
every tribe, tongue, and nation. I think it would be beautiful for our family to mirror this great big family of God on a small scale.
3. Orphans: according to one source, there are an
estimated 53 MILLION orphans in sub-Saharan Africa Another source estimates 132 million
orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean (2005 stats). That’s a lot of orphans! Many of these countries do not have the financial or human resources to provide for all of these children. Our daughter is one of these millions.
4. Costs: Wow, adoption is expensive! Rates for domestic newborn adoptions are on
par with what it costs to adopt internationally (right around $30,000 for
either, give or take $10,000!). I don’t
know many families who can pull together those kinds of funds from their
personal resources very easily.
5. Fundraising: Well, since costs are so high, that’s where
fundraising comes in. It is hard and
humbling to ask people for money. It is
a lot of work to apply for grants or to put together creative fundraisers, and then humbly ask people to participate. I've thought at times: “why would you choose to adopt if you can’t
afford it?” Which is a good question in some ways! However, we, like many families, have the resources to
provide for a child (we can afford food, clothing, shelter, etc), but coming up
with the initial investment for the adoption fees is a little overwhelming...
6. Extravagant
grace: our God is a gracious God, an
extravagant God. He owns the “cattle on
a thousand hills.” Children and orphans
are close to his heart. Ultimately, I feel
like Keith and I are following his “calling” in pursuing this adoption. Just as God poured out his extravagant grace
on us, he is providing for us in crazy extravagant ways to be able to bring little
B into our family.
Looking back on this post, I feel like
this is a bunch of random ramblings… but if you've made it this far, thanks for
sticking with me. If you have any
questions or want to dialogue on these issues more, please let me know (leave me a comment or something).
With love and respect,
lp
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