Is there a shortage of adoptable kids?

[booley]

This seems to be totally contrary to everything i have ever heard.

But i keep running into cons and other homophobes that keep claiming that gays should't adopt because there are so few adoptable children in the country and there are long lines of heterosexual couples waiting in line to adopt (but there aren't enough kids..)

For example..."The simple facts are that the waiting list to adopt is sooo long that you cannot even hope to get an American child to adopt.   The homos will never be in the front row."

and

"I worked for a Child Protective Services agency for two years, and I am no fan of Frag. But he is absolutely, completely correct. There are huge, huge lines for every newborn child, period. There is NO excuse for giving a baby to a gay couple, because there are many thousands of married, heterosexual couple standing in line to adopt that child. I used to be a lesbian, and I considered giving up my son for adoption (but ended up marrying his father instead.) Can you imagine how terrible a lesbian mother would feel if she gave up her child, only to have some other lesbian couple adopt that child? That would be evil."

Like I said, this goes against everything I have heard, including some catholic adoption agencies that have said that they opened adoptions to gay couples because so many kids were not being adopted.

http://groups.msn.com/eXtremelyPolitics/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=306312&LastModified=4675554376244426133&all_topics=0

Is there statistical evidence that backs up either claim? Are there more kids needing to be adopted then parents or the other way around? Anybody here work in child services?

[MessiahRp]

1. I always thought there were some issues with that claim

since there still seem to be plenty of orphanages out there (although they go by softer names like foster or group homes).

Not to mention how many kids that end up unwanted later in life that live the majority of those lives in those group homes because nobody wants a kid who isn't a newborn.

The pro-lifers always use that claim to try to rid society of abortion but they are very conclusion selective with their facts and I don't buy anything they say anymore because it's proven that they will say anything to achieve that goal of banning abortion, rather than have a fair discussion of the facts.

Rp

[politicat]

2. There are very few white newborns available.

That's the only shortage. There are thousands of older children - toddlers and up - who will grow up in foster care because there are no adoptive parents for them. Especially special needs and minority children....

And as for the "lesbian" mentioned above, what crap. How does one Used to be a lesbian, and if so, how does a lesbian manage to get pregnant inadvertently? Was it just a case of "I have no idea how that penis came near me?" :puke:

[MADem]

Yep, if it is a pink, pooping infant you want, ya gotta go to eastern

Europe, or pay a hefty price for a surrogate, or fork over cash to some impressionable young girl who is out of options, and hope that the father is unknown, will sign away rights, or isn't hideous looking so you don't end up with a troll for your hard-earned cash, I guess.

The designer Chinese girl is always an option, too.

I wish people would worry less about the shape and style, and more about the children. Then we'd not have foster care at all, except as a very temporary circumstance. Foolish dream, I guess.

[LisaL]

28. Easiest way would be pop out one yourself.

[MADem]

29. Well, if you have the right equipment and it is in working order

that is certainly the cheapest alternative, considering the adoption fees and so on, and probably as good a one as any. But it seems to me that I hear more and more about people who are unable to have kids, for a deficiency of some sort--either low sperm counts, or ovens that will not hold a bun, as it were. And then, there are the older folks who want to adopt, or the gay folks, or the single folks...I just wish more would seriously consider the homegrown kids first, rather than going so far afield for a child as often the first resort.

[LisaL]

30. But people who have their equipment in working order

produce kids in their own image, and no one is calling them "selfish". So, the only problem with people that want to adopt an infant of their own race is that their equipment might not be in working order. How does that make them selfish?

[ultraist]

32. Is "in their own image" only and all about skin color?

Why are you putting so much importance on skin color? It is only one of many physical traits. MOST parents, acknowledge OTHER types of traits that their children inherit or develop as a result of environment. Physical traits are the LEAST important.

If someone is so racist that they value skin color so much, and want a child with the same skin color, they shouldn't be a parent.

[LisaL]

43. Because when you go out with your kid, you might not

want everybody to know that he/she is adopted. I mean, is that too much to ask?

[MADem]

45. Hey, it could just mean that you had fun with someone of a differing

shade at one point in time!!! Nowadays, so many families are made up of "yours, mine and ours" so the odds are almost even that if you have two parents and a crew of kids, they aren't all sharing the same precise DNA.

[LisaL]

47. Well, if you and your husband are of the same race,

people thinking that you had fun with someone of a different shade might not be such a good idea either. Some people would automatically assume you were sleeping around on your husband, and some people might just want to avoid that reaction.

[MADem]

49. I dunno, I would not worry about what people think

But our team is a multicultural, multiethnic, multishaded family, and my attitude is that if they don't like me or mine because of the way some of us look, or the languages we speak, that's THEIR sick, pathetic problem.

Worrying about what the neighbors think--and even more so if they are racist peckers--is a waste of energy, IMO.

[LisaL]

51. We all worry what other people think-whether we admit it or not.

And if someone wants to adopt a baby of a certain race, then it's their business, not ours.

[MADem]

54. I don't, but hey, whatever--it's still a free country

And I certainly wouldn't want those poor kids in homes where they are looked down upon because they do not "match" the parents, or have parents who worry about what the close-minded, bigoted neighbors think because they had the stones to care enough to take on the responsibility, at any rate--it sure wouldn't be a good environment for the child.

I just wish the culture of the nation was a bit more embracing...but clearly, as you have rather compellingly articulated, it isn't.

[MADem]

44. What is race, though, really?

If you are of English or Italian ancestry, how does adopting an Estonian kid carry on the image thing? They might be more or less the same skin tone, but why not go the whole nine yards -- eye color, shoe size, height, hair color, shape of hands, size of nose, placement of ears?

I'm not calling anyone selfish, for whatever that is worth. I just wish people in a position to adopt, and who want to so do, would first consider taking care of some of these kids who are AMERICAN as a FIRST option, instead of having Canadians adopting them because our country steps up to the Korean, Chinese, or Russian plate but cannot swing the bat for our own little ones (no offense to Canadians, I admire them for taking up our slack, frankly).

Interesting read on that, here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/11/60minutes/main673597.shtml

(CBS) The conventional wisdom is that if you are looking to adopt that perfect baby, a healthy infant, you will wait years and pay tens of thousands of dollars. You may have to go to Eastern Europe, Latin America or China.

But what if you were told there are hundreds of healthy newborns that private adoption agencies are struggling to find homes for, right here in the United States, who are available within a few weeks of being born.

They’re black or mixed-race infants. With an estimated 2 million American families looking to adopt, it may surprise you where these babies are ending up. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports.

British Columbia, in Northwest Canada, is best known for its vast wilderness, where blacks are point .65 percent of the population. And some of that minority are children adopted from the United States. ....

[SmokingJacket]

40. Calling those abandoned kids "designer" is kinda rude, imho.

My friend recently adopted domestically, going for a mixed race or black child. It took three years and was well worth the wait -- they got their kid and it's great. However, domestic adoptions are a roller coaster of emotions: the mother often changes her mind, or comes back on the scene. I think people who adopt domestically are totally HEROIC.

However, I can hardly blame people who adopt foreign children, with fewer strings attached: children are children, and abandoned Chinese girls need love and attention as much as anyone.

[MADem]

46. No rudeness intended--they became quite fashionable a while back

I knew three rather wealthy couples who adopted Chinese girls--and paid close to thirty grand each for them. Someone is making money on these deals, it isn't all voluntary abandonment, a lot of it is the parental limit policies of the Chinese government.

One adoptive mother was horribly irritated when she subsequently became pregnant, and the husband, a real moneybags, threatened divorce if she terminated. She had a high powered job with a lot of exposure to the circles frequented by the upper crust, but nowhere near the income her husband had, and that little detour put her on an unwilling Mommy track. It was an ugly little scene there for a bit. My experience with these folks, admittedly, colors my perspective. And I'd like to see more heroic people like those you describe. See the CBS link I posted elsewhere on this thread--a lot of the heroes are Canadians...

[LisaL]

48. Exactly. Those chinese girls are hardy designer babies.

They were dumped, most likely because their parents wanted a boy child. How on Earth can anyone declare them designer babies is beyond my understanding.

[MADem]

52. The remark has absolutely NOTHING to do with the children

But it has a helluva lot to do with some, not all, mind you, of the parents.

Children in China are a commodity, and are treated by some like cows or chickens--and that includes some (but again, not all) of the adoptive parents. But what is interesting is that child abduction -- theft of wanted children -- is a dirty little secret that fuels a "market." You have to wonder how many of those cute, adorable, ABDUCTED--as opposed to abandoned--kids end up here, or in Australia or wherever, never knowing where they really came from....

http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-china0101.artjan01,0,123240.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld

Some of the stolen children are babes in arms. In July, 52 ring members were convicted in the southern region of Guangxi after 28 drugged and bound baby girls, none older than 3 months, were found in nylon duffel bags on a long-distance bus. One died; the rest were taken to an orphanage.

The reasons for the terrible growth industry in child trafficking are as varied as they are disturbing. In a country that earns millions of dollars a year from foreign adoptions, some children end up abroad. Others remain in the country, especially in rural China, where having a son is still seen as a must for inheritance, carrying on the family line and tending relatives' graves. But girls are also in demand as wives in areas where men significantly outnumber women, as caregivers for older relatives and for families that already have boys.

In the worst cases, activists and nongovernmental groups say, some are forced to work as prostitutes, as maids or in begging rings.

China often balks at releasing embarrassing statistics, including the number of its youngest citizens abducted in front of schools, on streets and in busy markets. But experts say the problem is growing despite repeated efforts by the government to crack down on traffickers. China has disclosed that it rescued 3,488 abducted children last year, according to the official New China News Agency. Experts say those children are only a fraction of those lost....The government has another incentive to play down the problem: lucrative overseas adoptions. The United States and other Western countries refuse to allow adoptions involving baby-selling.

China has laws against baby-buying and strict regulations to prevent children who have been purchased from entering international adoption channels. Nonetheless, the Hengyang orphanage in Hunan province, which has provided children for U.S. families, was caught recently buying babies.

[MountainLaurel]

56. Thank you for pointing this out

I've read a little about the situation in Korea, where the government has no incentive for dealing with unwed mothers, beyond encouraging them into adoption homes, because there's such a market for the infants.

[MADem]

58. It's a sad situation all around

Cash and carry, but with kids, not small appliances or geegaws. I wish the world would treat kids better--they're the innocents in the cruel game...and we humans as a group, though not always as individuals, seem to have our priorities all wrong.

[wtmusic]

72. And how many Chinese baby girls

are suffocated or thrown in the river? Girls are not at all "in demand" in China...there is a huge "surplus", often dealt with by anonymous murder.

[Yupster]

70. This is the same thing I hear

from my friends at church who've adopted.

The fear of adopting domestically is that the mother will come back into the picture years later and mpose herself on your family. A couple of friends have adopted in Rumania. Another in Vietnam.

There is certainly a long waiting list to adopt a white baby in America today. Oner couple I know was on a list for three years.

[MADem]

7. dupe, sorry, my mouse is hating me today

[Hello_Kitty]

16. That's always been the case. Pre-Roe even.

I was adopted as a 2 week old infant in 1968 from a Washington, DC orphanage. My parents had to wait quite a while for a white infant to become available because at that time adopting from another race was usually out of the question.

I'm not buying that woman's story either. I think she may have experimented with other women but was basically heterosexual. Either that or she's in denial in which case I feel sorry for her husband.

[politicat]

21. Well, there was a time when it wasn't the case....

But adoption wasn't considered acceptable when there were enough infants available. Through the end of the 19th century, only one in 10 infants given up to orphanages made it to their second birthday, primarily due to neglect; but there were enough infants available if anyone had bothered to take one. (Of course, at that time no one considered it appropriate to adopt, with bad blood and all that nonsense...)

As birth control methods have become more acceptable, the percentage of children available for adoption at birth has decreased steadily, and those who come from the more privileged backgrounds are naturally the most affected because contraception requires money and forethought.

[LisaL]

50. The correct definition would be bi-sexual. Not that

there is anything wrong with that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Depends on how "adoptable" is defined.

According to my friend, who was trying to adopt a child but ran into roadblocks because of her age, healthy white infants are in high demand, but there are plenty of older, or non-white, or special needs kids who are waiting for permanent homes. Or sometimes people will go to China, Russia, Romania or elsewhere to adopt orphans. My friend ended up adopting through a private adoption arrangement.

[Bridget Burke]

4. This site shows 894 kids waiting for adoption in Texas....

http://photolisting.adoption.com/searchresults/show,0.html

Most are currently in foster care & many have some problems--mental, physical, emotional. And they aren't all white.

Those desiring a brand new blue eyed baby from an upper middle class background have a LONG wait.

[MADem]

8. Unless your name is Judge Roberts, of course

And you have Irish and Bolivian connections....and cash, apparently. Then, the blue-eyed, blond-haired WORLD is your oyster!

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. There is something very fishy about those kids

[Cronus Protagonist]

34. I can't believe you would say that....

...it's daddy that's a bit fishy, or perhaps a bit bat shit crazy.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Ok I will rephrase that

There is something really fishy about how he acquired these kids.

Is that better?

[noamnety]

5. Depends what you mean by "adoptable"

"It’s not just Canadian families adopting African-American babies. You can find them all across Europe, from Italy to Norway, even in Peru. One Florida adoption agency sent more than half its black infants out of the country last year. No one keeps count, but 60 Minutes was told it could involve as many as 500 children a year. Many adoption professionals we talked to were shocked when they heard that the United States was, as they put it, “exporting” black babies. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/11/60minutes/main673597.shtml

[zbird]

6. I think they mean "white, healthy babies with a mother who had...

excellent prenatal care". I have no statistics, but I am certain that there are tons of children in the system needing to be adopted. These children are most likely one or more of the following: non-white, not a baby, special needs.

[kineneb]

9. No. Just white ones.

I have never had the desire to have a child, but have always maintained that if I did, adoption was a viable option. And I would not have cared what color the child would be, a child is a child and love is love. Those who only want a "designer" adopted baby are truly selfish. I never had the opportunity, because Hubby's health went downhill.

[LisaL]

26. I think those people are no more selfish than people

who actually have their own biological child. Wanting to raise a child that somewhat resembles oneself-if that is selfish, then maybe people should stop breeding altogether.

[Warpy]

10. There's a shortage of lily white, healthy newborns

There's never a shortage of older kids, special needs kids, or kids of color.

[RobinA]

12. There Are Fewer

healthy American infants of any color available than there are parents who wish to adopt. Older children and children with serious problems are plentiful. What this has to do with gay adoption, I don't know. Hetero parents are just as liable to be toxic as gay people.

[ultraist]

14. Actually, that's not true. There is a shortage of adoptive parents

Only 2% of parents end up adopting. In my region, it takes only about a year to a year and a half (opposed to nine months of pregnancy) to adopt a NEWBORN of color. Longer for a white baby through the public system but there are private agencies that can provide a white baby faster.

Meanwhile there are approx l50,000 "waiting children" available for adoption through state's DHHS adoption and foster care depts, many who are older and/or sibling sets or special needs.

Gay parents are more likely to adopt special needs children and children of color, according to the last stats I saw.

Persons Seeking to Adopt: Numbers and Trends
Author(s): National Adoption Information Clearinghouse

http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/profess/admin/stats/index.cfm

Availability: View Publication
Printable Version (PDF - 163 KB)
Order Publication (Free - Add to Cart)

Year Published: 2005 - 4 pages

Most Americans favor adoption, and many have at some point considered adoption. However, relatively few have taken concrete steps toward adopting a child, and fewer still have actually adopted a child. This factsheet examines some of the more recent statistics and trends regarding American adults who seek to adopt an infant or child.

http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/s_seek.cfm

While there are more than 118,000 children in public foster care awaiting adoption (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005), potential adoptive parents are not always seeking to adopt from the foster care system.

The 2002 Harris survey focused on this question. Public foster care includes a disproportionate number of children of color and many older children, as well children in sibling groups and children who have experiences of neglect or abuse. Those polled in the Harris survey indicated they would be more willing to adopt older children and children of different races. However, they expressed concern about adopting children with health or behavioral problems. Additional concerns unrelated to the child's characteristics included whether the birth parents would try to regain custody and whether the costs of the adoption would be affordable.

[SoCalDem]

13. Blue-eyed, blond white babies are in short supply

The "market" is glutted with "other" children though..This is the flipside of abortion, and why the reightwingers really hate abortion. The "Maternity homes" of the 30's-60's filled empty white families with children. These days, girls/women with means can (and do) have abortions, instead of giving birth and relinquishing babies. The stigma of single-motherhood has made it easier for some (lots) to keep their babies too.

For an uptight fundy to adopt a mixed race kid is an admission that they are barren. Adopting a kid who looks just like them makes it easier to blend in and only immediate family/friends sometimes knows the child is adopted .

This is why some people are so eager to go to Romania & Russia to adopt ..

[LisaL]

23. I don't buy it. People go to China to adopt.

It's obvious they aren't adopting white babies. If non-white babies for adoption were plentiful, why would people go on the other half of the world to adopt?

[Aimah]

35. Because there are less hassles and they assume..

that Asians aren't into drugs. I think many of them feel that if they can't get a white baby that isn't in drug withdrawal or fetal alcohol syndrome then an asian baby is the next best thing. My sister is a foster parent and most of the babies she receives are born with drug or alcohol problems. The state does very intrusive background checks (as I believe they should). Including into anyone in the family who might stand in if the adoptive parent can not watch the children. Felonies can block an adoption.

[shanti]

41. you are very right

i work in the adoption field and know this first hand. also, a lot of the white babies come from questionable backgrounds (mental illness, drug abuse, prison), if they are adoptable. however, as white women/girls are more apt to use abortion, most of the available california infants are latino, and white couples ARE adopting them. the white couples who want white infants go to eastern europe.

[Lindacooks]

15. There are huge numbers of kids waiting for adoption.

http://adoption.about.com/cs/adoptingbasics/l/blalpha_a.htm?terms=adoption

There's only a shortage of white healthy babies.

http://www.adopt.org/

[txindy]

17. So, she "used to be a lesbian?"

Was she cured or something? Ooo, I'll bet she prayed her way to heterosexuality, right? :eyes:

Good. God.

[Lex]

19. She got pregnant when she 'was' a lesbian?

I don't get how her story hangs together.

[LisaL]

27. Not a very convincing lesbian, that's for sure.

She had also married the father of her child. Kind of peculiar behavior for a lesbian.

[Lex]

18. There are lots and lots of slighter older kids waiting for adoption

or kids with some mild health or learning problems.

The lily-white newborns with no problems--those are what people have to wait for. I don't feel sorry for them having to wait either.


In fact, many gays and lesbians are perfectly happy to adopt the "hard to adopt" kids. But most states won't even allow THAT. They'd rather them stay in state facilities.

[ultraist]

20. How sad...

In fact, many gays and lesbians are perfectly happy to adopt the "hard to adopt" kids. But most states won't even allow THAT. They'd rather them stay in state facilities.

Foster care and institutional care cannot replace a stable home, even if the home is not optimal. Many kids are better off even in slightly abusive or neglectful households, than they are being moved through the foster care system where they often encounter abusive foster parents and are shuffled from home to home, only with a garbage bag of belongings.

Institutional care is the hardest on children.

http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/f_gay/index.cfm

http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/f_gay/f_gay.cfm

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), estimated in 1999 there were approximately 547,000 children in foster care in the United States, of which 117,000 are legally free and therefore eligible for adoption. But, in 1997, there were qualified adoptive families (including single parents) available for only twenty percent of these children. It is also estimated that approximately ten percent of the U.S. population - or 25 million individuals - are homosexual.3

Based on these increasing numbers, can gay and lesbian individuals be realistically and automatically excluded from consideration as potential adoptive parents?


http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/f_gay/f_gayc.cfm

What the Law Says

Only one State, Florida, specifically bars the adoption of children by gay and lesbian adults. Similar legislation was introduced in Utah prohibiting unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, from adopting children. The bill claims it is not in a child's best interest to be adopted by persons "cohabiting in a relationship that is not a legally valid (binding) marriage". The bill passed the State of Utah's House and Senate in February 2000 and is waiting the Governor's signature. The Governor has pledged to sign it.

Yet, in April 2000, Vermont lawmakers approved legislation that makes the State the first in the nation to recognize same-sex couples right to form "civil unions". Partners in a civil union would be given the same benefits of married couples - the ability to transfer property, to make medical decisions for each other, to be eligible for inheritance, and the necessity to dissolve the union in Family Court (equivalent to a divorce). More than 30 other States have tried to avoid such unions through the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act. The act defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and denies recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Legislation has also been introduced in Mississippi that would ban gay and lesbian couples from adoption and forbid the State of Mississippi from recognizing gay and lesbian adoptions that have previously been granted by other State courts - an unprecedented provision. Anti-sodomy statutes in 19 states and the lack of legal recognition of homosexual couples complicate adoption in the states that don't specifically prohibit gay and lesbian adoption.

Professor William Adams Jr., co-counsel in a case challenging Florida's ban on adoptions by gays and lesbians, has noted courts are increasingly turning to expert testimony to resolve questions in gay rights cases. He theorizes that there are several factors contributing to this trend, among them the courts' desire to justify their decisions in light of the controversy surrounding the issue and the efforts of gay litigants and civil rights organizations to provide the court with information. Although Adams sees this as a positive step, he comments, "citation to social science data should not be mistaken for a court's full understanding of it, however, because courts sometimes struggle to make sense of the research, or strain to ignore it".13

Nine States - California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin - and the District of Columbia have allowed openly gay or lesbian individuals or couples to adopt. Although some joint adoptions have been successful, the most common practice is for a single person to apply as the legal adoptive parent of the child. Couples who both want custody then apply for a second parent, or co-parent, adoption.

[AnnieBW]

22. Social Services Not Allowing Whites To Adopt Black Kids?

Okay... my husband and I are strongly considering adoption, because both of our parts don't work correctly. We're both white, middle class, employed homeowners. I have heard that some social services agencies will not allow - or at least discorage - white couples from adopting black children, because they're "taking them out of their culture" or whatever. I mean... I live in a predominantly black county. There's whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in my neighborhood and the kids all play together. BTW, I'm perfectly willing to adopt an older black or mixed-race child. Heck, at age 41, I don't want to be changing diapers or running after a toddler! :D

Is this just a myth, or is there something to it?

[Lex]

24. Probably depends on your individual county.

I think most counties try to place African American children in African American homes.

However, I know several families who have adopted children outside their own race, or bi-racial children.

Best to check with your own county, but it sounds like your location is one where you wouldn't have to worry about being denied on the basis of your race being different from the child's.


Sometimes most of the 'pickiness' comes with newborns anyway. Your willingness to adopt an older child would be a big bonus, I think.

[ultraist]

31. They cannot discriminate based on color

There is a federal law about this that was passed in recent years. ONLY native American adoptive parents can be given priority over other parents for Native American children.

They cannot refuse you a child of color if you are white.

[Lex]

39. That's why they couch it as a "cultural" preference.

And not a "race based" preference.

[RobinA]

36. The Fact Is

Healthy infants of any color are difficult to adopt. Social service agencies rarely even have to make decisions about race, as a black or hispanic infant can be placed in a same-race household as quickly as a white infant. One reason for the lack of infants is that, in all but the most egregious cases, it takes awhile to terminate parental rights, so the infants available tend to be the really rough cases or the few in which both parents agree to give the child up early on.

If you are willing to adopt an older child or a child with problems, you can have children of all races lined up at your door, assuming you live in a relatively racially mixed area. If you decide to adopt an older child, please thoroughly research the problems that you could encounter in order to understand what you might be up against. A disrupted adoption is NOT better than no adoption at all, for you or the child.

[shanti]

42. it happens in california

but it takes a special couple willing to do the hard work and have the cultural awareness/sensitivity required to make sure that the black child isn't raised to be confused. many white people pretend that there is no such thing as race and racism when it is still very much alive....even here in cali.

[JVS]

25. Keyword: Newborns

[theHandpuppet]

33. Plenty of children available here

http://www.nbc4.com/wednesdayschild/index.html

Of course, racism has nothing to do with the shortage of availble children to adopt. :sarcasm:

[RobinA]

38. In Fact

African Americans, for whatever reason or reasons you happen to subscribe to, are WAY over-represented in the child welfare system. There are too many black children available for adoption because there are too many black children in the system. It is not because of any large scale racism by adoptive parents.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ultraist]

55. My neighbor adopted three infants

The first newborn girl took l8 months to get and the second two baby boys took less than a year. All three babies came through the public system. All three children are Black, and she and her husband are white.

Private adoptions are even faster, esp if you can afford an international adoption. My cousin adopted an infant from Guatamala, years ago, it cost over $40,000 but the process took only a year. Not really very long considering pregnancy lasts nine long months.

Very few people adopt, only 2% of parents.

It is not as hard to adopt a baby as some make it out to be, IF you are willing to adopt a baby of color.

[wiley]

57. Gay couples wil take older kids, as well as non-white kids

as well as kids with disabilities. It's an international tragedy that they should be denied the same right as heterosexual couples. There are kids that really needs parents and parents who are really "picky".

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

60. What is up with the two gay men comment?

Oh, and welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay.

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

65. Damn, then I guess using that logic, single fathers should just give up

their kids, eh?

What does testosterone have to do with trust, exactly?

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

67. Fascinating gender discrimination.

[freedom000]

68. the sexes are different

[MissB]

69. And yet men have been perfectly capable of raising kids.

Go figure.

[ultraist]

62. WHAT?

i wouldn't trust two gay men with kids

Oh, me. :wow:

[MissB]

63. Oh, my.

*coughcoughbuttoninthecornercoughcough*

[mandyky]

61. Depends what you mean about adoptable

Newborns, maaybe, if they are healthy. But what if Mom had AIDS? What about kids, ah, say 5 years or older? Or what about more than one child? Or what about minority children?

This is such a lame aargument!

[wtmusic]

71. Lots and lots of beautiful (adoptable) baby girls dying in China

every day. Lots.