This is and will be a question that gets asked of us for the rest of our lives. This is a debatable topic. People want to know why we are adopting from another country instead of helping a child right here in our own city, state, country.
Everyone who adopts has a reason for why those chose their particular location or situation. There is no right or wrong answer. The right answer for one family maybe the wrong answer for another.
We don't feel like a child from our country is any less deserving of a family than a child born elsewhere. However, we personally would like to help a needy child which for us rules out private domestic adoption. Typically, the babies involved in private domestic adoption have multiple families waiting to bring them home. Their chances of finding a loving home are the highest of any adoptive child and they will be adopted right from birth with no time spent in foster care.
So why not adopt from foster care? That has been something that we have researched and I still continue to research. For our family, we feel like we are best suited for a child under the age of three because we have two 3 year olds now and we do not wish to adopt a child older than our oldest child who is 6. This is more of a personal preference and what we feel would be best for our family. Children who are available in foster care are typically older than 3. Younger children are not typically available for adoption. There are infants and young toddlers who are in the foster care system but they are usually only in state care temporarily and we would have to deal with the loss of that child if/when they are reunited with their families. That is not something that, at this point, I am ready to deal with. And while children in the U.S foster system do not have it easy by any means, they are typically better taken care of than most of the children who are in international orphanages and foster care. They also do not age out until the age of 21 in some states, while internationally children age out as young as 13 years old.
Adopting internationally is what we feel we are called to do. Adopting from another country suites our needs best. We will be able to adopt a child under the age of 3 with little to no special needs. We will be rescuing a baby from a life in an orphanage where they would spend most of their time in a crib because most orphanages are understaffed. They become mentally and physically delayed in these environments. Also, given that we are already a multi-cultural family we feel like bringing a child home from an Asian country would make our future child feel less like she is standing out in our family. Our hearts are pulled toward Asia, mostly Vietnam but if that is not possible then we will likely be adopting from China.
Again, this is personal preference only. Whatever, a family chooses for their route to adoption should not be criticized by someone else. A child in need is a child in need no matter where they were born or who they were born too. It should not matter where someone is adopting from, only that they are taking the opportunity to adopt.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. Romans 8:14-16
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