Adoption.
Some people treat even the suggestion of it as if it were a four-letter word. When a woman finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, she sees three options:
1. Abort the baby
2. Raise the baby
3. Place the baby for adoption
Most women find even the idea of carrying a baby that you will not raise yourself absolutely excruciating. Now that I’ve been through pregnancy, I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulty.
This month is National Adoption Month, and it is a cause I will forever throw my entire weight behind. I’m not going to get into women’s rights, but what I will say is that I firmly believe in the miracle of adoption and if the opportunity presents itself–it definitely is something to be considered.
I was placed for adoption at birth. My adoptive parents ARE my parents. My sisters ARE my sisters. Blood doesn’t mean family in my book. Never has. Never will. I love my birthmother and forever will be grateful for her and her sacrifice. Are we all on the same page now? Good. Moving on.
adoption statistics
It is not uncommon to hear an adult say, “I’m open to adoption”; however, only 2% of the adult U.S. population elect adoption as a method of growing a family. The reality is that we still have a huge population of children needing to be adopted, whether they are in foster care or otherwise. One out of four children in foster care are already determined to be unable to return to the home from which they came.
The reality is that most people don’t realize the impact or the blessings that result from adoption. Adoption is powerful, but we need more people willing to adopt, but also to adopt out of circumstances that perhaps are less than ideal (foster care, order adoption age, illness, etc.).
Adoption statistics are still staggering and ever fascinating. If you find yourself in a conversation about adoption this month, feel free to educate yourself and rattle off any of these statistics.
My goal isn’t to convince people to adopt, rather I’d like to live my life in a way that shows that placing a child does not result in a traumatic childhood and hate. I am abundantly grateful for adoption and to the role that it has played in my family (especially because I gained the world’s greatest parents and niece as a direct result). As always, if you have questions about adoption feel free to comment below, tweet or direct message me.
Love,
Evi
Sources
Adoption Network, United States Child Welfare, United States Center for Disease Control, Guttmacher Institute, United States Children’s Rights Report 2013, Adoption Advocate (National Council for Adoption)
This post is post number one in a series of three posts regarding adoption in celebration of National Adoption Month 2017. To see the other posts, check back here as a way to continue exploring this topic.
Other posts from years prior can be found in My Experience as an Adopted Child and What An Adopted Child Wants You to Know.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! Taylor and I don’t just “like the idea” of adoption. We want to adopt. We believe it is a beautiful biblical theme that makes family much deeper than a bloodline, just like God adopted us. Thank you for sharing all of this, Evi! I’ve heard it said that if every church in America had just 2 families in the congregation that adopted a child, all the kids would be out of the system.
Truly. It only takes a couple families here and there to make a huge difference in the adoption/foster community. I know with all of my heart that you and Taylor would rock as adoptive parents. x’s and o’s!
This is such a great and heartfelt post. We don’t have any experience with adoption in either of our families.
There are so many reasons why there are babies available for adoption, none of which should be judged. My children’s godmother is adopted and it was a marvelous thing that gave her a beautiful life.
I love this info, Evi! We would love to adopt one day so it is great to learn about all the statistics.