International Adoption

When I originally signed up for the trip to Sierra Leone to work in the orphanage, in the back of my mind there was always the possibility of some route toward adoption. Not for me personally - but to facilitate adoptions for others. Why wouldn't this be something amazing - taking children from the poorest country in the world and blessing them with homes?

As a birthmother, I have been involved in adoption for almost a decade. I think it is an amazing, wonderful gift that creates the blessing of a family. The thought of opening an adoption agency with my brilliant and beautiful friends, Dierdre - adoption guru, M.A., LPC and Melissa - wonder attorney, had even been recently discussed by the three of us.

The shadowy underworld of adoptions that has left many couples heart-broken and out of cash and young women being treated as a means to an end should be a thing of the past in America. Sadly it is not. So the idea of founding an agency that was based on the principles of ethical, affordable adoption is a cause I can rally behind any day of the week.

Since coming home, in sharing my pictures and stories about the orphans of Wellington, several compassionate souls have inquired as to their availability to be adopted.

I was surprised when I found myself alarmed and agitated by the thought. Lately, many things we (especially me) do in the Disneyland of America has become a source of agitation in light of how much others lack across the globe.

But these children have a family. They have 32 sisters and 43 brothers, and Pastor Hassan and his wife are their parents. They are close, protective and loving of each other.

The young girls cry when their older brothers must leave for boarding school. Who will protect them now from harassment of the men in the streets as they walk to school?

I know the love and closeness of the Wellington orphanage may not be the standard norm. Undoubtedly there are many children who are not loved by their caretakers nor consider their fellow orphans as siblings.

But even if they don't - is it our power to make this the reality at more orphanages?

What if instead of spending the $40,000 - $50,000 we spend to rescue one child and leave the rest behind - we spent $40,000- $50,0000 on supplying water, health care, quality, loving caretakers, education and hope to the entire orphanage for a decade?

There are appx 300,000 foster children in America that are in need of loving, permanent homes. Domestic, foster-care adoptions typically are a fraction of the cost of adopting internationally.

And what of children who have been taken from there parents in foreign countries (at the parent's request) who were so poor they couldn't afford to feed them - would it not be better to spend the $40,000 to $50,000 on providing the entire family shelter, food and hope for a decade?

Wellington is filled with the brightest and most amazing children. They are the hope of Sierra Leone. They have a vision and a dream to rebuild their country - because that has been instilled in them by Pastor Hassan and the mission teams working with them.

If they were adopted - it would leave a gaping hole in the intellectual and visionary capital so desperately needed to save an impoverished nation.