For those who adopt from abroad?

Question

I would like to ask those who have adopted from other countries two questions.

The first is why did you choose to adopt children from other countries when there are children in the US in desperate need of a home?

The second question is what do you all do to remind the child of their heritage and culture, if you are of a different ethnicity?

Answer 1

Financially speaking in the foster care and orphanage system there are no 'desperately' in need children in the United States..

A child is a child wherever they're born. We are all members of the human species, one global society. In the United States we are lucky enough to have the funds to give our children the basic necessities until they are adopted or can support themselves, this is not the case for many countries, where many children's lives are literally saved through adoption.,

For the second question, the major international adoption agencies often sponsor events for families to introduce a child to their culture and meet others in similar situations.

Answer 2

just to answer from a personal perspective. i'm white, my husband is black. we're adopting a family member from his side of the family. The child has spent the first 4 years of his life in Africa. i'll be a white mum to a black child who will be part of a family made up of several races. you can celebrate more than one heritage/culture. You probably do it yourself when you celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with a turkey and a christmas tree. One comes from Native american culture, the other from German culture. The same can apply when reminding the chlid of differences in ethnic cultures. We live in a household that lives in the USA , has a home decorated in a european/african style and we speak 5 languages from 4 countries ( some european, some african).

Answer 3

According to a friend of mine that did the same thing, there is alot less red tape involved in adopting from another country and her big thing was what happens on down the line. So many times a family adopts and then later the mom cleans herself up & wants the kid back. Then the adoptive parents have to spend alot of time and money fighting for custody of the child they've raised up until that point. She said for her, it was the constant worry of when that time might come. Unfortunately, the system has caused this issue by not making an adoption final.

Answer 4

We have adopted two children internationally. The children in the US that you hear about that need homes are in the foster care system. While some will eventually be adoptable, their top priority is to reunite the child with birth family. We didn't think we could handle raising a child for months (or years) only to have them taken away.

  Private domestic adoption can also be risky, and with waiting lists, and more prospective families then babies, it made more sense for us to look into international adoption.

  Our experience was quick, and had little risk involved, we now have 2 amazing children, and I would not change our decision for the anything.

As far as their heritage, we take them to cultural events, celebrate holidays and traditions from their birth country, and get them together with children who have also been adopted from the same country.

Answer 5

I have four children. Two of which were adopted.

I chose to adopt from abroad because I traveled to other countries and Tristan and I (read my profile) fell in love with children there in the orphanages. I mean, if you find a child that you want to call your own...and you feel a real connection with a child there, you will know that that child is the one for you.

I remind the children of their cultures, but they are both Christians and so am I...but, for instance, one of the adopted children is a girl and her name's Madeline. I gave her a French name to remind her that she was from France. It's special to her. Before we named her, she didn't really have a name! With Aiden, our adopted boy, we do some other things.

:) We also have two biological children, Hollie and Grace.