Angela Fry
Meghan Barnes
English 101
Feb. 28, 2017
Child Adoption in the United States
A child is not born into this life wanting to be abandoned, not wanted, unloved, feeling the insecurities of this world. More than 100,000 children in the United States who live in foster care will not be capable of going back home to their birth parents. They count on being adopted into a loving and nurturing family (Fravel, Deborah, Ruth, and Harold 425). They are a blank slate in which we provide the bases for them educational, and emotionally. On November 23, 1962, a cold, snowy day, one year after the death of President Kennedy, born to this world was a seven-pound-eight-ounce baby girl (Fravel, Deborah, Ruth, and Harold 426). She was born in Kankakee Illinois to a single mother, no known father, a mother with only a grade school education; no means to support herself let alone a child. Society was not kind to unwed mothers. A 1992 study found that unmarried birth mothers who made adoption plans were more like to carry on with their education, were more likely to marry afterward, and were less liable to receive public assistance then both mothers who chose to parent their child born out of wedlock (Samuels 509). It was not an easy decision to come to, but the only decision that was available to this new mother, was to allow her baby to be raised by someone other than herself. To allow this child the chance to live a happy childhood, to have a full stomach never having to go without food, cloths and to have the emotional support a child needs. Permanent parents will make a difference in how children grow up. According to A statistic “There were 127,407 adoptions in the U.S” (Samuels 509). This will discuss all aspects of adopting a child in the United States, whether locally or internationally.
Reasons for adopting a child
Adoption is and will always be a personal decision. Each choice to adopt is unique as every individual or couple has walked a different path in getting to their decision. Without adoption, some peoples’ lives would be without purpose. Before couples consider adoption, they always attempt infertility treatments like the Vitro Fertilization (IVF). A few find successes, while most are left disappointed. In essence to the American Pregnancy Association, 30-35 percent of women below 35 years can become pregnant via AVF (Fravel, Deborah, Ruth, and Harold 425). With each failed attempt, more finances are lost, resulting in physical, financial, and emotional breakdown. Thus, why adopt a child? Because life provides countless memorable moments, and sometimes it is hard to realize how special they are without children to remind them. A father would love to see the joy in his son’s eyes when he attends his first football game while a mother would love to see her daughter’s joy when she starts cooking.
Infertility destroys people’s dream of having their family and adopting provides them with the opportunity they ever wanted. Though infertility can be out of the question, other health conditions such as epilepsy or heart disease can result in pregnancy not being a good idea. With adoption capabilities, these conditions should not be in your way to having a family. To other people, caring for children is in their genes. It can be so ingrained in them that they consider adoption for the love of offering a better life to a child. Some couples may have children, but they may not have acquired a particular sex they were hoping to get. Therefore, adoption enables them to expand their family in the way they prefer it as they can get the sex the need without the whims of Mother Nature.
Adoption will prevent those with genetic disorders from passing them on to their next of kins. They can enjoy having a family without the anxiety of giving the ailment that is in the family. Finally, adoption can assist a child who is in need. A child can be orphaned, or the parents do not have the capacity to care for them, but whatever the reason, adopting the child will assist lift them from their position.
Types of adoption
The children residing in foster care are those whose birth parents are unable to care for them are who parental rights have been removed. The children are in a group or foster homes awaiting adoption. If anyone wishes to adopt, they can contact the private or public agencies in their community. Fost-Adopt is an adoption where a child is placed in someone’s home as a foster child, but she/he can be legally available and free to be adopted by those caring for them. In the current society, people want to adopt more infants than there are available babies for adoption. Most of the parents who need to adopt infants do so by hiring intermediaries such as physicians, lawyers, and other facilitators instead of visiting a licensed adoption agency. This kind of adoption is known as independent adoption, which is legal in most states, including the United States, but not all.