A mummy! A daddy! The belief that all children are entitled to a family! The belief that all who want to be parents will excel at the life-long process involved! These beliefs, cherished by all cultures, are the foundation for adoption. Yet, in reality, society doesn?t always wholeheartedly support an adopted child or those who create a home for it.

Adoption occurs when biological parents, who are usually also the legal parents, transfer over complete and permanent rights and obligations to raising a child. These legal parents usually freely choose adoption and willingly sign the necessary consent forms.

However, when a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, or even abandoned, the courts may order that the child be ?put out for adoption.?In the court-ordered cases, the child usually remains in a foster home until he is about six or seven years old before being placed for adoption.

The differences between adoption and foster homes are reflected in the permanence of adoption. Foster homes are always considered temporary, and foster parents have no legal rights as to the long-term care of the child, even if the courts order the child returned to an abusive environment.

A child may have many sets of foster parents over the years; adoptive parents are technically there for the lifetime of the child.

Many myths abound about the mental, emotional and physical well-being of an adopted child, and that?s exactly what 99% are: only myths. The ?poor little adopted child? in reality is usually a well-fed, loved, delightful child who has been given opportunities that exceed what many ?non-adopted? children receive. The adopted child has been spared from living under circumstances where he is not wanted, or where, although wanted, the parents couldn?t take care of him.

The challenges come more from the reactions of society than from the home circumstances. In our society today outsiders still sometimes rudely ask a child born in a different country,?What are you?? (referring to their race). When a white-skinned person adopts an African American child many in society still look on with a frown at the grocery store.

Another myth is that the adopted child will always feel ?rejected,? yet that word ?always? should be watched. Most psychologists and social workers have come to understand that a person raised in its biological home is just as apt to feel rejected as an adopted child. It all depends on the circumstances and how much bonding and love and attention is experienced.

Growing up to be a responsible adult is a challenge for people raised under any circumstances. Sometimes people choose not to be responsible and make excuses about how they were raised. For those people, if they were adopted, that is a convenient excuse, although usually it is not an accurate representation.

Curiosity is part of human nature. For those who are adopted, it is natural to wonder who their biological parents were and what became of them. The love they feel for those who have raised them does not diminish by this curiosity. And, it is natural for the biological parents to wonder what became of their baby or child.

Yet, for all concerned, the past is like a cancelled check you can?t keep spending it. Whether adopted or not, here and now is where we are living! How fortunate we are that adoption exists so dreams of being part of a family can be a delightful reality for all.

About the Author:

Adoz Lizzat is the webmaster of Peak Adopts which tackles all adoption issues.For more information, go to: http://www.adoptionr.com

Tags: adoption agency, Adoption General Information, Orphans and Orphanages, special needs adoption

Children's charity NCH is to launch a scheme to encourage more people from black and other ethnic minority communities to adopt children.

As National Adoption Week begins, NCH said its NCH Black Families staff would help those people by being able to understand their background.

It said for every approved adopter from a black or mixed background there were three children available for adoption.

A recent NCH study showed many people were unaware of adoption criteria.

Tags: Adoption General Information, Interacial Adoption

Adoption: Laughter and Tears

 by: Tanya Sturman

If you ever walk through an orphanage, it will be an experience youll never forget. Witnessing children in poverty, children discarded, children stunted both physically and emotionally, will stir your heart beyond belief. And adopting a child is a joy as great as witnessing the first sharp intake of breath by your very own newborn infant.

 The suffering of orphans vary from country to country, but even in the US, where conditions are as good as they get outside of Western Europe, less than 20% of those that age out of the foster care system are completely self-sufficient as young adults. The conditions elsewhere are sad and sadder, and the need for families to take these children home is dire, in some cases a matter of life and death. The orphans in Sierra Leone bear pain and suffering that no human being should have to endure. Food, potable water, and healthcare are in short supply. The median age in Sierra Leone is 17. Due to war and shortages of food supply, many of these children wont make it to that median age.

 Children waiting for adoption in Sierra Leone. The future looks bleak for even the average orphan. In Russia, 40% of the orphans who never find homes as children become homeless as adults, and 10% commit suicide after aging out of the system. For those with special needs the future is even grimmer. Disabilities are not tolerated anywhere in the world as well as they are in the United States. Wheelchair ramps and accessible public bathrooms are just a couple of outward signs of how integrated our society is. In many countries, special needs orphans will never leave the institution. In Russia, they are considered incurable invalids and put in a sanatorium for life. Kimberly Reese described the situation in both Hungary and Bulgaria, I saw NO special needs people ANYWHERE outside the orphanages.

 Susan Buchholz adopted from Vietnam twice. Both of her Vietnamese daughters are special needs children. The only people she saw outside the orphanage with disabilities were those peddling postcards to tourist. She also witnessed many children begging on the streets. This image still haunts her. Poverty is a way of life in Vietnam. She describes bringing home her second daughter, Teresa. Even at 14 months of age, she had only had formula and rice soup which I imagine to be a kind of rice cereal. Thai, from International Mission of Hope, told us that Vietnamese families do no teach their children to feed themselves until they are 7 or 8 years old to limit their intake of food. He said the teachers in the younger grades also feed their students for the same reason. 

Bulgarias orphans suffer emotional neglect. Kimberly Reese adopted two children from Hungary and one from Bulgaria. Ellas orphanage in Bulgaria was awful. I can say that both of my Hungarian children were well cared for and came home very stable emotionally. My Bulgarian child was clearly mistreated. she was like a wild animal. It was very sad.

Nikki from Hungary, and Ella from Bolivia. Like Susan, Kimberly adopted special needs children. Kimberlys oldest child, Nikki, is missing most of her left hand. Nikki was offered to Kimberly and her husband by the adoption agency and since they didnt think her special need was a big deal, they accepted her. Once we got Nikki home, we realized that these kids rarely ever get adopted in Europe– unless by Americans. Nikki is so wonderful. We requested special needs after that. Ellas special needs were emotional. Their youngest, David, was adopted from Hungary and doesnt have any hands. Because both Nikki and David have upper limb deformities, Ella always wants to be just like them. Strange, isnt it? She wants a hand like Nikkis or arms like Davids. I have seen her try to eat or drink using her elbows like David. 

These disabilities are a part of a natural life to Susans and Kimberlys families. Life is a joy with their beautiful children, and if anything the disabilities create laughter. One of the funniest comments I remember was when we first brought Nikki home. My cousin had adopted two kids form the states and we were having a party to celebrate. We were at the pizza place and my little cousin said, Kim, dont panic! They have got to be here somewhere! He was so serious that I started to get concerned as he almost frantically looked around for something. I said, what is it, baby?! He said, Im sure Nikki had them when she came in but she has dropped three of her fingers! It was a scream!

 Many parents choose international adoption just for this reason. They can offer a better– a much better– life to a child from an underprivileged country. They can see an angel where others have only seen an invalid. They can offer steak and chocolate cake to a child that has hungered for rice. Hundreds of thousands of children are waiting for families to rescue them from coming of age in an orphanage. For most the wait is futile. Sadder yet are the potential matches between orphans and families that go unpaired. There are thousands of families with the financial and emotional resources it takes to raise another child. They are willing and eager to care for and love a child as their own but unable to come up with the large adoption fees required upfront. The $20,000 price tag is a hard hurdle to overcome.

 Many adopting families beg and borrow enough to cover these initial fees from families and friends. Those who are able to cash in their IRAs or take out a second mortgage are fortunate. Some run up credit card debt to cover adoption fees. Many give up and never consider adopting again. The road to adoption is steep, but the rewards are tremendous. Imagine giving a child a warm bubble bath before bed. Now imagine that this is a brand new experience for your child. Warm bath water is a luxury many of these children never know. Even if you are unable to adopt a child yourself you can still make a difference by donating to a childrens charity which offers adoption grants to families adopting older or special needs children.

Tags: adoption agency, international adoption, Orphans and Orphanages

Adoption Announcements
By Jimmy Sturo

Finalizing an adoption can be a joyous event that you may want to share with people you love. The best way to do this is to send them special announcements about this special occasion. A specialized announcement can show others how special your new baby really is.

Where to get them

Go to a card shop that specializes in customizing adoption announcements. Doing business with anyone else may not give you the results you are expecting. You can find these shops very easily. Many places offer the option to create customized announcements for you to send out. Many shops now allow you to place your order with them over the Internet through their website.

Size and type

These announcements can come in all shapes and sizes. However, the traditional announcement is 5x 4 enclosed in a customized envelope.

Take time to personalize the announcements. You can include a poem showing people your love for your newly adopted child, or even add his or her picture. Announcements can also be customized to the gender of the adopted child. For example, you may want to have pink announcements if your adopted child is a girl, and blue ones if the child is a boy.

Cost

The cost of these announcements depends on what you want included in them. The most basic announcement can cost as low as $4 each. Adding special features to the announcements such as customized messages and pictures of the adopted child can raise the price. The average price of announcements with more colors can be around $5 each.

Baby Adoption provides detailed information on Baby Adoption, Available Baby Adoptions, Baby Adoption Showers, Baby Adoption Shower Invitations and more. Baby Adoption is affiliated with International Adoption Services.

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Tags: adoption announcements, adoption birth announcements, Adoption General Information, for adoption announcements, letterpress adoption announcements