News, News, it's all over the news

No news on the personal adoption front, but maybe that is a good thing. I'm out of town on business so even if I wanted to compulsively check the mailbox IT ISN'T PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE. I wish I could get away from the whole adoption thing for a week, but it never works that way. For some strange reason, every time I travel on business there are always articles in the USA Today or other major papers about adoption.

Today, adoption news was on the front and third pages of the paper. The front page article was "Fewer foreign children adopted". It's true, anybody who knows anything about adoption would say that. The slow down in China, the threat of Vietnam shutting down (which I pray is resolved soon--it really appears to be battle of wills with DOS and....Vietnam? I'm not really sure), the US discouraging adoptions from Guatemala...well, I could keep going but I don't want to bring anyone down. My hope is that my blog will remain optimistic and hopeful even when things seem dire. Adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents are stuck in the middle of this, but the children are the ones that truly lose out.

The second article focused on the increase in domestic adoptions and foster care. This is good, but it isn't an option for everyone. As a single person, there are very few birth mothers that are going to choose me to be the parent to their child. I don't blame birth moms for this at all. Honestly, it's not always an issue of having a two-parent household as much as it is having the additional income. If you adopt from foster care, you don't have the option of adopting an infant and you don't always know that the child you fall in love with won't be sent back to the birth parent, regardless of how horrible the home situation is. It truly depends on the state you live in, their laws, and the sensitivity of their Child Protective Services agency.

While it is great that more in the US are becoming foster parents or adoptive parents, what about the 143 million children worldwide that will never be adopted or have families of their own? What becomes of them? These are the questions that keep me awake at night. I pray for those that are put out on the street once they hit their teens. I know that the life they face will not be easy. At least the children in our own country are not living in poor orphanages. They are living with foster parents who, for the most part, love them with everything they have.

My heart breaks for those children that don't get one-on-one love and attention from someone that loves them. Sorry, I really want to keep it light here, but my heart has been heavy and it bothers me that our government is making it more difficult for these children to find families. I pray that we don't forget about the orphans.