Some time ago I had a discussion about adoption with some friends. They were looking at adoption, but running into some questions they couldn’t answer. These were not questions about home studies, social workers, or dossiers. These were very good and hard questions that may not have a "right" answer.
They were questions like . . .
- If we really care about orphans around the world, why don’t we sponsor a child/family so that they can remain a family unit rather than adopting them and taking them out of their birth country?
- If we really care about orphans around the world, why don’t we spend our "adoption money" to travel and provide free labor, assistance, or education?
- If we really care about orphans around the world, why don’t we spend our time writing our senators and representatives to convince them that our government should help?
Whew! I didn’t know what to say! Especially since I was nowhere near this type of thinking when we adopted the first time. I was in purely selfish mode . . . biological children are not an option for us, and we desperately want children. So, we’ll do whatever (legally) it takes to have children.
I didn’t have many answers then, and still don’t. I can deal with the "easier" adoption situations like the child was abandoned and we know nothing of possible biological relatives. Or, the child was born to a young, unwed mother who will be ostracized from her community forever if she chooses to parent the child.
But, how do we answer these questions when the child is placed for adoption due only to poverty? I don’t know. Do you?
The one thing that I do know is that adoption is a part of the solution for the precious orphans of this world. I know that God uses even difficult situations for good. I know that He had a plan for my husband and I and our two beautiful, adopted children to become a family. I know that from the depths of my heart!
