Adoption

"Our children are not ours because they share our genes... they are ours because we have had the audacity to envision them" (http://www.karensadoptionlinks.com/inspirat.html). Adoption affects people in a profound way, showing love and affection to the ones who need it the most. A staggering amount of couples want to show this affection; "in 1992, the last year for which total adoption statistics were available, 127,441 children of all races and nationalities were adopted in the United States" (Pertman, 2000).Often a husband and wife jointly adopt a child or children and thus become the legal parents of this child who is not theirs naturally. However after an adoption, for legal purposes, adoptive parents are viewed as if they were the natural parents of the adoptive child. Among other things, this means they assume all legal responsibilities that a natural parent normally has for their child, including duties of physical care and financial support and may inherit from each other just as natural parents and their children do. On the other hand, the process of adoption severs all legal ties between an adopted child's natural parents and the child. The natural parents no longer have any legal rights or responsibilities with respect to the child (Scott, 1998-2006). The institution of adoption has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as the adoption world has undergone seismic shifts: the rise in international adoptions and the effects of global economics, adoptions by gays and lesbians, and celebrity adoptions. Adoption matters add to our understanding of reproduction, parenting, familial bonds, personal identity, and self knowledge.

Many people who live comfortably in developed countries and can not have a child turn to adoption. International adoptions are becoming very visible. International adoption has many positive and negative aspects for people trying to adopt. When choosing to adopt, most people want a younger child, which is often why they pick international countries; however, there are many young children within our own country who need families. As stated in the Biren article, Guatemala is a great choice for young people because the children are generally young in age (n.d). This is hard to find within Western countries, therefore taking precedence over our own young children who may be older in age but just as much in need. Another challenge when adopting from a foreign country is cultural differences. Both parents and children need to learn to adapt to diversity, such as different foods and personality and behavioural differences of countries.

Often foods in foreign countries are quite different from the foods offered in western countries and having access to these foods can be difficult for the adoptive parents. Likewise, asking the child (rens) previous caregivers if they have noticed any personality strengths or weaknesses would be very beneficial (Biren, n.d.). It's possible in some countries that information is well held so that the child is adopted. Some orphans had serious developmental concerns of which the adoptive parents knew nothing. A major reason for the success of international adoptions is the mere number of children. Orphanages and governments were unable to care for such numbers. Adoptions can take place easier for affluent westerners.

Part of the success with international adoptions is that the children who are adopted from different countries are infants and therefore generally there are fewer problems in an adoption; there tends to be less adjustment issues the younger the children are. Plus these types of adoptions are not as problematic in the Western hemisphere where the society as a whole is more heterogeneous compared to other societies

(Biren, n.d.). However, this is not true in all parts of the west. For example, a child who is adopted from Guatemala probably will have an easier time adjusting in a community such as in Hawaii where their culture similarly resembles Guatemalan cultures and traditions. This could be a very small adjustment compared to another Guatemalan child elsewhere in the Western world.

What needs to be remembered is when adopting internationally we are helping those who need it the most and where conditions are extremely poor. There are different reasons for people choosing to adopt outside the western countries. Some are the red tape that they face, the availability of babies; to some prospective parents there may be the humanitarian desire to adopt a child who you may be able to give a life which they could never dream of, to rescue them from some terrible situation. Strategies which Williams Willing's suggested are hoped to help this by "bring[ing] diverse people from different places together so that we can all not only survive, but thrive in solidarity" (Williams Willing, 2005, p.106).

The subject of same-sex adoption is another very hot topic these days. Same-sex couples are equally qualified to be parents as are heterosexual couples when it comes to adopting children (Gay Adoption, 2006). In my opinion, same-sex couples are looked upon as being different from the norm of society and they are being unjustly judged by their sexuality and not by their ability to love and care for a child. Does sexuality determine if we are good enough to care for a child? Same-sex couples have the ability to raise a child and to educate them as well as anybody else. If they have good jobs and are able to provide an excellent life for a child then why would they be considered unfit to be able to adopt children? Same sex-couples have just as much right to adopt children as anybody else.

In the article "Gay Adoption Controversy" by the ABC news, it discusses how catholic charities in Boston shut their doors on needy children from pressure by the Catholic Church. Massachusetts has a law that protects the rights of gay couples to adopt a child but the strong religious beliefs overshadowed the children's well being (p.1). This violates the rights of these couples and paints a picture that they are unfit to be parents. However, according to American Academy of Pediatrics the "development of children is based more on a nurturing relationship and interactions within the family unit then by the structural form that takes place" (Gay Adoption, 2006, p.1). Similarly within Williams Willing's article the different strategies she put into place were there to "introduce a quest that can bring a diverse range of people together to create a world where differences and diversity are respected" (Williams Willing, 2005, p.106).

Along with the gay community, unnecessary burdens have been placed upon other aspects of the adoption process. As Madonna adopted 13-month-old David, a wave of controversy followed. Many would disagree that this uproar was necessary, as she was