Why is Foreign adoption so appealing?

Question

I am an adoptive parent of 2 children from here in the United States. My son was the 3rd child to a mother who lived on the streets and didn't care for her children. My daughter was the first child of a mother who abandoned her on the side of the street. There was no question for me when it came to adoption that I would adopt local children.

My question is why do people make the decision to adopt from other countries. Regardless the answer adoption is a wonderful thing I am just curious.

Answer 1

While there are no certainties regarding adoption, at least with international adoption you know that there are infants available who have already been relinquished.

In my province, there are 10 couples for every healthy infant, which obviously means a lot of competition and broken hearts, as well as enduring the fact that the first mom has a certain amount of time to change her mind (of which she has every right).

With IA, particularly China, even if you have to endure a heart-wrenching wait, you know that you will eventually be matched with a baby.

As for the argument of why adopt abroad when there are children here, well, I don't like the idea of saying that Canadian or American or British children are more deserving than a child from anywhere else.

For us, we got all the facts, and then let our hearts decide. Whether you give birth or adopt from CAS or abroad, raising a child is a huge leap of faith and you go with your gut.

Answer 2

there is a 10 years PLUS...most cases are PLUS or never get off that darn list in australia and even then your not guarenteed a healthy child...they are most likely disabled. Much easier to adopt over seas

Answer 3

We chose to adopt two school age children from Liberia.  We did a LOT of research into every avenue of adoption and took many factors into consideration before making the decision.  

Angelina Jolie was NOT one of those factors!

Answer 4

I think you did a wonderful thing and I applaud you for adopting children in need. I would love to adopt out of foster care once my life is more settled.

I think a lot of people are afraid of domestic adoption because they're afraid of getting "damaged goods" or that the parents will come back.

Answer 5

i dont know, it is sad that there are so many children that are orphaned in the whole world, but i think that its better to adopt from our own countries, because there are so many children that need loving homes in canada and america too. why not try to solve the problems here first.  that is so great that u are an adoptive parent :)

Answer 6

Usually newborn babies in the states get snatched up pretty quick. There are LOTS of parents waiting to adopt babies.

Some couples go to other countries because some countries have food and health problems and they sometimes get a lot of babies in hospitals to care for because the parents aren't able to or they die of aids or something sad like that.

Which is also another reason  to help those babies, some people feel really bad that there are dozens of hiv possitive babies sitting in adoption agencies in some other country, so they feel like they're helping more. And I think it's easier and cheaper to get a baby from a third world country.

Answer 7

because in foreign countries (china for example) They can only have one baby, and if its a boy, they want to keep it.. but if its a girl then they put it up 4 adoption

Answer 8

because alot of times its cheaper and faster in other countries. Also depending on the country there isn't as many loop holes to go through. I think it comes down to price and less hassels.

Answer 9

Its faster, easier to obtain a baby, and...what I think is the best reason personally....you wouldnt have to deal with repercussions of a birth family demanding the child back...thats a huge fear for most people, and rightfully so!

Answer 10

as long as a person's making an informed decision to adopt, and they're sure this is something they would like to do, i dont think it matters which route they take. a child who needed an adoptive family gets an adoptive family.

Answer 11

We waited for seven years to finalize dd's adoption here in the United States. At age five she was very upset when the other children she knew were having their adoptions finalized....it was an issue of stability for her. (She was not a foster child.)

It was a difficult situation for the hubby and I but that paled in comparison to the emotional trauma dd suffered. I could never subject her to having this happen with another child.... one that she would consider a sibling.....one that that she had bonded with.

The hubby and I are considering a school aged adoption from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Ethiopia.

Answer 12

We already had 2 biological children and when we decided we wanted a third child, we chose international for many reasons. (we adopted from China)

Our daughter was abandoned so she was free for adoption with no waiting period involved. She was legally our daughter before we left China. I knew with adopting from the US that the first parents have a time period to where they can decide against adoption and parent their baby. I didn't want to get caught up in that emotional roller coaster.

I visited a few adoption sites who do domestic adoptions and to be honest I could never write a 'dear birth mother' letter. I would feel like I was begging some woman to give me her unborn child. Personally it left me with a icky feeling.

Cost was another factor. Of course international adoption isn't cheap but doing a domestic adoption looked even more expensive. I was told that we would have to pay for the first mother's living expenses, medical bills, etc and of course she had the right in the end to not place. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars to not end up adopting in the end. My main issues with that though was I was afraid a woman might end up placing her newborn with us cause she felt like she owed it to us since we had provided her with medical care, living expenses and so on. I did not want it on my conscience that she might have parented if she had not felt a commitment to us.

I really didn't want a newborn. Having had experienced it twice already was enough. By adopting internationally we got to choose the age group we wanted.

I know there is foster care adoptions available but with already having 2 children at home to think of I was afaid of adopting a child that was in the system due to abuse and neglect. I had to be honest with myself on what I could handle.

Most of all I just 'knew' China was for us.

Answer 13

For most, its a definite timeline. For others it is because they are afraid of birthparents. For some it is to help a child that may otherwise die because of poor medical care of because in some countries special needs children are left to starve.

Also in domestic adoption if you are older, single, or have a larger family It is more difficult to be chosen by a mother

Answer 14

i have not yet, but intend to adopt from africa. I have gone so far as to visited the capital of ethiopia and set up the connection so that when the time is right, it will be a little easier. When i first met my husband i made to sure ask him how he felt about the issue even before aggreeing to date him. So i guess what i am saying is i have always known i wanted to adopt from overseas. Its what i am passionate about. I think a lot of people look to adopt locally, and i want to give other children a chance as well. thats just me though

Answer 15

We also adopted from the US.  However, if we were in a position to adopt again, we might consider foreign adoption.  For us, it is because of the "issues" we experienced with the state foster program and the way they treated the bio family who we adopted from.  At one point, our son's case worker told us point blank that our son was a "hot commodity" within the system.  We just do not feel that any child should be referred to in that manner nor should they be considered that by the state.  

Friends of ours adopted internationally because they felt that they wanted to help a child who was in an orphanage and bring them to the US.  I know of others who adopted internationally because they were afraid that if they adopted locally, the child's bio parents might show up on their doorstep one day and they did not feel that they could handle that.  

I guess the answer is that every situation is different and people choose what is best for their family.