My lovely friend Lynne who is based in the UK directed me to this excellent article by the BBC about the challenges of adoption. The comments following the article are really a panoramic view of adoption realities. The access to adequate resources is paramount when adopting a child, along with a pragmatic sense of the commitment you're making.
The story of Artyom/Justin continues to affect international adoptions, and adopters. The World Association for Children and Parents, the agency involved in overseeing Artyom's case here in the US filed a motion for a state investigation of abuse on the part of the adopters of the Russian child Artyom in a Tennessee Court yesterday. An article on Psychology Today's Blog says it all: with 40,000 international adoptions of children to the US each year, they ask: Are we helping them? One had better be pretty darn sure of what one does with an a child already coping with serious losses. Smithstein provides some great resources for adoptive families to peruse.
Any reader of this blog knows that I'm still very pro-adoption, in spite of the real and honest difficulties that face any adoptive parent. If you can put resources in place and steel yourself, you're saving a child. As Abby Jones of Pennsylvania can express so eloquently for a 15 year old, "I saw Lidia and said, we can do this." She mentions the need to properly screen adoptive families. With so much at stake, even a sharp 15 year old can see the most crucial step to success. You can click on the photo to read more about Abby and her three Russian siblings and see a short video of their amazing family.
Abby Jones (photo credit: BBC)
© Bright Nepenthe, 2010
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