What is wrong with the world when people are complaining about international adoptions?

Question

I've seen it all over this board. Makes me wish Lennon's vision could become a reality. People are acting like because children are from another country they don't have the same right to live.

Financially speaking in the foster care and orphanage system , onthere 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. 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.,

When a person saves a child from extreme poverty, or even death in many cases, and get looked down on for it, I think there is something very wrong in the world. Especially when those doing most of the talking are not adoptive parents, but only contributing to the increasing overpopulation concern.

Answer 1

I totally agree!  I answered that question and it just shocks me too.  Like you said; a child is a child no matter if they are from Vietnam, China, Africa, Israel, or the US.  No matter where they are from they are still children looking for some place to call home.  It really shows you how self-centered some [actually most] Americans can be.  How can you even complain about these things when a child is being taken care of?  Oh well, I guess we'll never change those people's minds!

Answer 2

As the parent of three internationally adopted daughters, I heartily agree!  I would also like to add that when I first considered adopting a child, I was a 37-year-old single woman who had dreamed all my life of having a baby girl.  There was almost no chance that I could have done this domestically, since in the U.S., most birth parents are able to choose the adoptive parents.  What pregnant woman giving up her baby is going to choose an older single mom to raise her child?  So I went to China, and my dream of a beautiful baby girl came true.  I did go back to China two more times and adopt older, special needs girls.  If they had stayed in their own country, they would have had little education, and no future.   Today they are in school, their medical conditions have been addressed, and they can look forward to a happy, healthy life.

Answer 3

I agree whole-heartedly! When my family began discussing adoption, we first looked into adopting out of the Foster Care System. We had a VERY depressing experience. We had our home study completed and were very optimistic. We were looking for an older child - 5 to 8 years old. The state in which we live in is very limited and they do not work well with other states. We foudn several children we were interested in in other states, but they would not even look at our application because we lived in a different state. Also, we heard and experienced through friends many horror stories about the rights of the birth parents.

Disclaimer - not all domestic private and Foster Care adoptions are horror stories. This opnion is based on my personal experiences and conversations with DFS in my state and other states and converstaions with many fosters parents.

We then looked into an international adoption. We shy'ed away initially because of the costs. However, the federal government offers a $10,400 tax credit, the state offers up to a $10,000 tax credit and my employer provides money as well.

We looked at 4 agencies and 3 countries in particular and decided upon Russia with an agency we just loved. I will leave that fact off this answer for now. We returned from Russia with our 6 year old daughter on December 17, 2006.

I am certainly pro-American, but my family's best option was to adopt internationally. It ticks me off to see people run down international adoptions only because there are so many children in the Foster Care System in this country. I agree with that statement, but as you mentioned... a familyless child is still a child, no matter where they currently live. We saved the life of a little Russian angel and would recommend the process to anyone considering adoption!!!

Answer 4

unfortunately, discrimination exisits in all forms, and in all places.  People are allowed to have their opinions, even if they are stupid and not based in fact.  Ultimately us adopted families must figure out what we care about and what we don't.  Generally, people who do not believe our families are real, or worthwhile can ki-s our a-s.  

I will say hwoever, that adoption to me is a completely selfish thing.  Whether that selfishness extends internationally or here, is up to me (or you, personally).  We adopt who we beleive we can love and nurture, and skin color/ and background can be part of that equation.   The beauty of it is you can be selfish and the world benefits.  Not too many win/win situations left in the world.

Answer 5

More people would adopt in the U.S. if the system was set up to protect the rights of the children in foster care OVER the rights of the birthmom. Going out of the country is a safer bet than trying to adopt in the U.S. where judges delay and delay terminating parental rights of parents that are CLEARLY unfit.......where birthparents have up to a year to come back and change their mind after voluntarily giving their child up for adoption........where birthfathers can show up out of nowhere and take a child from parents who've adopted him/her. The whole foster to adopt and open/domestic adoption situation in the U.S. is frightening. That's why we went to China.

Answer 6

I agree with you about children and adoptions, however, I think the point that many people are trying to make is the celebrity adoption craze.  I personally am quite frustrated with the celebrity popularity right now with international adoptions.  For those of us who have gone through the adoption process, we understand the amount of time it takes to be approved, and bring a child home.  These celebrities are able to go out and just bring a child home, often times not even having to abide by the adoption policies in that country.  Take Madonna for example, she was not required to stay in the country with the child as others are required to do.  That is simply not fair to the process.  

I do believe that when one opens their home for an adoption, it is a great thing to do - no matter who you are.  I just worry that some of these celebrities do it more as a political statement or publicity stunt, rather out of love.  Those are the wrong reasons to adopt.  

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Answer 7

everthing i mean its only giving the child a chance for a better life think of this if it was u and u were up for adupshon wold you wont someone not to adoupt you i mean i dont see anything rong with it exspicle if thay r babys i dont get it but whatever flotes there boat let them think what thay wont

Answer 8

Most people are ignorant of third world countries and think that USA children are entitled to more rights because they are born in the wealthiest country in the world.  I don't see anything wrong with it as long as we don't forget our own children in this country as well.  When people begin to ignore our own children in foster homes in the USA then international adoption becomes a problem in my opinion because that is saying that we as American citizens don't care about our own children but we want to rescue everyone else first before thinking about our own citizens.  I agree a child is a child no matter where it comes from.  But people should remember our own children sitting in foster homes before they go and adopt a child from overseas.  I say make a law that says if you want to adopt a child overseas then you must adopt a child from USA as well.

Answer 9

Amen!  I just read the post you were talking about.  I left a LONG answer in return.  As an adoptive parent to a Guatemalan boy I really resented some of the comments made by posters that apparently have NO IDEA what goes into adopting a child internationally OR domestically.  

I'm pro adoption all the way across the board.

Answer 10

There are many foster children in this country badly in need of adoption from loving parents. Celebrity international adoptions are often exotic publicity stunts.

Answer 11

i dont think its a matter of putting down international adoption, i think that maybe some people feel more comfortable with domestic adoption and have a hard time understanding why people adopt internationally, a lot of peolpe who adopt internationally feel that as far from the birthparents they are they safer they are from loosing there children, and people who adopt domestic have feelings of opn adoption and so on and so on..... I believe that we are all a community that needs to stick together and support one another! No matter which route or road we decided to take, we all have the same result, a family!  Oh and we shouldnt boost ourselves in saving a child, it may make them feel guilty when they are older! I am an adoptive parent who adopted domestic, and i only waited 2 weeks for placement. Oh and if you havea good agency, birthparents sign reliqishment papers and in california its 24 hours and they have NO RIGHTS after the 24 hours of signing, i think maybe international and domestic parents of adopted children need to talk and clear up a lot of misconceptions.

Answer 12

I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I plan on adopting an Asian child in the next couple of years!

Answer 13

Racism lives and breathes as we know it. It sucks and people are ignorant but there isn't much we can do to change their minds. Unfortunately things like racism are instilled at an early age and it is hard to re-program people and they have a right to their own opinion, even if it is the wrong one!