I am a strong believer in adoption. I have an adopted son, and since deciding to adopt, we have had friends, family and acquaintances tell us their adoption story. It is amazing how many people have been touched by this process, but the tragic side is the number of children who are not touched by adoption, who are left in foster care until they age out.
In doing some research I came across the Child Welfare Information Gateway, http://www.childwelfare.gov/index.cfm , a product of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. They have lots of interesting information on their website and quite a bit to promote National Adoption Month.
Statistics always bring things home to me. I was staggered to read the “Report to Congress…Children in Foster Care: A Focus on Older Children.” In 2003 - 523,000 children were in Foster Care and 58% were age 9 and older. In Texas this age group would be called, “Hard to Place,’ and the report went on to support that title. Potential parents state their biggest concern in adopting a child 9 or older was of mental and physical disabilities. The stats said only 27% of children in Foster Care were diagnosed disabled. That means 73% are NOT disabled.
If you have considered adoption, but don’t want to do 2:00am feedings, teething and potty training, adopting an older child just might be the right fit for you and some beautiful child. AdoptUsKids, http://www.adoptuskids.org/ , is a great website with pictures of children waiting.
Sometimes a kid just needs a chance. Sometimes you are that chance.
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