Why Adopt a Child?
- Because you have the strength to do so - to be a good parent.
- Because you have love enough to give her, and then some.
- Because you will grow in spirit through her.
- Because deep in your soul you know you won't be content if you don't have a child in your life.
- Because your love and support for a child will help her grow up to be someone very special - anything she wants to be in this world - and you will be so very proud of her as her mom or dad.
- Because she needs you just as much as you need her.
Adoption is not about the biological child you can't have, not about wanting children or not having enough children. It's not about the family you could not have because you never married. It is about choices and options.
Adoption is about joining lives together in very special ways. There's an element of fate, and a leap of faith involved. It needs to feel right in your stomach, but give you flutters in your heart.
Adoption is not a ready fix for problems you have personally or interpersonally. It will not resolve marital strife nor gain you a spouse/partner if you are single. Adding a child to your life is not cost effective, but priceless. It is not timeless, but time-consuming. It is about unquestionable dedication, endless responsibility, and undying love - not because she expects it but because you want to share your life with her.
China Adoption Facts
- Over 6,500 children were adopted from China in 2006. From 1992 when adoptions from China opened, there has been a steady increase in adoptions of girls, boys, special needs, and waiting children. To date over 60,000 Chinese adopted children live in North America (US and Canada). (See http://www.fwcc.org/statistics.html)
- Children adopted from China, in general, are healthier than children adopted from other parts of the world. Children are tested for Hepatitis and in some regions for HIV. See www.orphandoctor.com for more.
- The one child policy allows each family to have one child. Rural families who have a first-born daughter may have a second child. minority families are not restricted in the number of children they may have if they live in rural areas. Parents who are themselves only children may have two children.
- Adopting from China means that your family will likely not learn any information about birthparents nor will be have the opportunity to meet them in the future. In some rare instances, upon return to China when the adopted child was older, adoptive parents and their child have met the birthparents.
- It is not possible to visit the orphanage at the time of adoption but usually it is acceptable to the Director to visit upon return when your child is older.
- The child's orphanage file contains any documents that accompanied the child at the time of her abandonment, the certificate of abandonment which is based on the police report, and a copy of the adoption papers.
- Children adopted from China are likely to have siblings in China that they may never meet; most likely an older sister or younger brother.
- Twins are available from some orphanages and sibling groups are also a possibility for those who wish to adopt multiple children at the same time.
- There are approximately 250 orphanages approved for international adoptions in China. An addtional 500 orphanages are not certified for international adoptions, yet hundreds of thousands of children live in these institutions. Each orphanage may have from 100-500 children at any given time.
Why Adopt...
She may never have arms to hold her as strong as yours.
She may never have a heart to love her as open as yours.
She may go to school, but for her no parents watch in admiration on her "first day" each year or later when she may graduate.
She will play within the confines of battered walls, sometimes cold and sometimes too hot for comfort.
She will cry out for help, silent in the night when no one comes to her.
She will eat because she has to survive and not because there are choices of restaurants or cuisines of the world to experience.
She will not know what a Disney character is nor take the fun ride on Splash Mountain.
She won't know that there's much more for her to experience, books to read, overnight play dates, swim parties, the thrill of Santa or a high school prom.
She will just try to hang on and live long enough to be on her own, and then she will be older and still very alone.
I know God won't give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
~~Mother Teresa
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